Guantanamo Briton might go mad from confinement- Father

12/13/2004 8:21:00 PM GMT

The father of a Briton held at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has spoken of his fears for his son's deteriorating mental, saying that solitary confinement is driving him mad.

Azmat Begg told BBC radio that his son Moazzam, he has been tortured by the U.S. guards, and that he was being driven insane by being confined in a solitary cell.

"From what I gather from different sources, it looks that he is deteriorating very badly and things are going badly physically and mentally," Begg said.

"I don't know how a person can stay in solitary confinement for such a long time and remain normal.

"He has been there nearly three years in solitary confinement without even a guard, just being watched by a camera.

"It is a long, long battle, which I can fight but I don't think he can survive that long.

Begg said he fears that by the time his son's case reaches the courts he would not be fit to defend himself. "By that time, mentally he will be finished. He won't be able to say anything. He will be a cabbage," Begg said.

"By that time, mentally he will be finished. He won't be able to say anything. He will be a cabbage."

"Why do they want him to go mental? Is it because he has seen a lot of cruelty and a lot of irregularities and violations of human rights? That is possibly why he is kept aside, so he doesn't talk about what he has seen to the other prisoners," Begg added.

Moazzam Begg, 36, from Spark hill, Birmingham, was among nine other Britons arrested in Pakistan in February 2002, and later detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Four of five Britons released in March, have sued U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top U.S. officials for alleged torture and abuse.

Last week, a report was released showing that another Briton held at Guantanamo was subjected to abuse and humiliation by the U.S. forces.

Martin Mubanga, 31, told a visiting Foreign Office official that U.S. guards at Guantanamo kept him shackled for long periods to the extent that he urinated on himself, and then ordered him to clean up the mess. He also said that one of the interrogators stood on his hair and that he was subjected to extremely hot temperatures.

In a report released last month, the International Red Cross, said that prisoner abuse at Guantanamo amounted to "a form of torture".

In its visit to Guantanamo Bay in June, the International Committee of the Red Cross saw a system devised to break the will of prisoners through "humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes, use of forced positions."

Mr. Begg said that he will visit the U.S. Embassy next week to request a visa to see his son.