David Hicks at his Adelaide home prior to his incarceration at Gitmo
The Australian provides an interesting glimpse into Guantanamo Bay Naval Base prison where Adelaide-resident David Hicks, 31, has been detained for more than six years on charges of alleged terrorist activities.
It says: “Detainees are glimpsed pacing manically in their cells. Others look calm – as much as you can tell from a distance.
“Guards rove the galley constantly, looking through a sliver of thick glass in the detainee’s door every three minutes. The rapid inspection rate is kept up 24 hours a day.
“Camp 6, a 176-cell facility, each cell measuring 3.6mx2m, is where confessed terrorist David Hicks has recently called home.
“During this pre-sentence lull yesterday, Joint Task Force command escorted under tight security an Australian media contingent around the base’s notorious detention camps, situated on desertscape in a remote part of the Guantanamo Bay base.
“And the media also were told by camp librarian Maggie, who refused to give her last name, that Hicks’s recent reading material included magazines and books on saltwater fishing, the Great Barrier Reef and even surfing. She also claimed that Hicks was into “history, philosophy and intellectual topics”…
I would also recommend another article on the subject by Janet Albrechtsen in The Australian…please click here…
Janet writes: “FINALLY David Hicks, also known as Abu Muslim al Australia, aka Abu Muslim Philippine, aka Muhammad Dawood, has pleaded guilty to the charge of providing material support for terrorism. And now watch as the real PR campaign goes into angelic overdrive. His vociferous cheer squad will proclaim his innocence, declaring the plea was the only way for Hicks to get out of Guantanamo Bay.
“Before the book deals, chat shows, newspaper and television profiles get under way, it’s worth putting emotion to one side. Forget about the photos of an angelic nine-year-old with freckles and a crooked fringe. Forget about the ads where his father, Terry Hicks, declared his love for his son. Let’s come back to the inconvenient aspects of the Hicks saga, those that never make it on to a “Free Hicksâ€? billboard: the law and the facts….”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.