US Military Classifies Guantanamo Bay Inmates’ Artwork As Government Property

The U.S. military has decided that any artwork which is created by inmates of Guantánamo Bay prison will be the property of the government. It has also decided to stop releases of security-screened prisoner art to the public.

The lawyers of the convicts who are detained in the infamous prison sensed a change when they started to notice that the art which they gave to the authorities for inspection and clearance wasn’t being returned.

The artwork declared cleared to be taken out was first inspected by prison workers who are proficient in the art of decoding secret messages written on any sort of artwork.

One of the attorneys, Ramzi Kaseem, said that one of the detainees was told that the “art would not be allowed to leave the prison.”

Attorney Beth Jacob said she was told by the captive she represented that “the colonel” said that “they could continue to make art but the number of pieces each could have would be limited, and excess ones would be discarded.”

A report by Miami Herald said that the authorities did not explain the reason for stopping the activity.

In the same report, Navy Cmdr. Anne Leanos said in a statement that “transfers of detainee made artwork have been suspended pending a policy review.”

This action is in direct violation of the Federal Bureau of Prison mandate which states that the artwork can be given to an authorized visitor in the presence of the warden, it can mailed to an approved and verified relative and it can be sold by an art institution or sales program.

Art classes were one of the initial projects which was held in Guantánamo Bay during the Bush administration, and according to the guards, it was also one of the best participated programs with the inmates.

It was a brilliant method to distract the prisoners from their difficult life inside the jail, and also prevented them from getting into fights with the guards.

The latest development can be viewed as an unwarranted move, especially when seen in the context of the ongoing exhibition which is taking place at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where artworks made by current and former detainees of Guantánamo Bay are being displayed and appreciated.

The exhibition named “Ode to the Sea” consists of different forms of artworks about the sea made by the prisoners, who can only imagine the sea as they are not allowed to see it, let alone reach it.

In a Guardian report, Abud, who was a prisoner at Guantánamo but was released without any charges, said, “For me, the sea means quiet. Sometimes the ship means you will arrive at the coast. Sometimes I put myself in the sea [in the drawing].”

The curator of the exhibition and a professor of art crime at the college, Erin Thompson, said, “Art is a way to imagine themselves outside of Guantánamo."

She added that the main aim of the exhibition was to “give other people a different way to think about these men but also for them to think about themselves in a different way."

However, Air Force Maj. Ben Sakrisson, a Pentagon spokesperson, stated Wednesday that all the art from the prisoners is the “property of the U.S. government,” when he was posed a question regarding where the money from the exhibition went.