WASHINGTON - February 6 - In a new report, Guantanamo: Lives Torn Apart, published today, Amnesty International exposes the impact of detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention center on detainees and their families; thousands are being condemned to a life of emotional and physical suffering and torment.

The report contains testimonies from former detainees and their relatives revealing how once a person is picked up and labeled an 'enemy combatant' by the United States, his life becomes one of constant torment and stigma. This terror does not end when the man is released and sent back to his home country. Many former detainees, even when reunited with their families, continue to be harassed, arbitrarily arrested and ill-treated by their own government.

"Absolutely outrageous," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. "If someone is no longer considered an 'enemy combatant,' either he was erroneously detained in the first place or he has undergone a miraculous conversion. In either case, he will never be free from the stigma of being labeled a "terrorist." Moreover, the lives of the detainees' families frequently spiral down into financial and emotional devastation. The denial of due process we have witnessed at Guantanamo Bay violates fundamental human rights law, to say nothing of our highest values as a nation."

There are approximately 500 men from 35 countries detained in Guantanamo, and only a couple of them have had a review of their detention in a court of law. In addition, at least nine men continue to be held in Guantanamo despite no longer being labeled as "enemy combatants" by the U.S. government. The report also provides a timely account of those who continue to be imprisoned at Guantanamo, including developments in relation to the ongoing hunger strike and suicide attempts.

According to testimonies Amnesty International collected, there are many families who know that their relatives are or have been detained by the United States, yet have received little or no communication from Guantanamo.

Nina Odizheva, the mother of former Russian Guantanamo detainee Ruslan Odizheva, described how the time spent in U.S. detention had irrevocably affected her son: "It changed him...he is completely ill...he lives on pills for all his major organs...he tries not to show it or tell me details so I don't get upset...he has no appetite...he is a different person now..."

"The Bush Administration cannot simply ignore the consequences of its actions on innocent family members around the world. It cannot continue to hold people indefinitely without meaningful legal recourse or due process. Either charge these men with recognizable criminal offenses and try them in an established court or release them immediately," said Schulz.

Amnesty International urges Congress to establish a fully independent and impartial commission to conduct public investigations into the reports of abuse in U.S.-controlled detention centers, including secret ones, around the world and to offer preventive measures to stop torture and inhuman treatment.

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