Brandon Neely
Encyclopedia
Brandon Neely is a former Army guard at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba
.
Neely is notable for agreeing to be interviewed by the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas at the University of California, at Davis.
Neely declined to respond to a recall to active duty from the Individual Ready Reserve
in 2007.
Neely reported that, after receiving letters from the Department of Defense, he was sent an honorable discharge from the Army Reserve.
In January 2010, Neely flew to the United Kingdom and meet with former captives.
Neely and Ruhal Ahmed
and Shafiq Rasul
reconnected in 2009 via Rasul's Facebook
page.
The BBC Radio was scheduled to air a documentary about the meeting on January 14, 2010.
In an interview with Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas Neely said that he and another guard experienced the first resistant prisoner for whom a "code red
" (a euphemism
for a violent extrajudicial punishment
) was called, calling in the camp's first use of its immediate reaction force.
He described how he and the other guard were trying to get a captive to kneel, so they could remove the captive's shackles. He could feel the captive trembling, and his body tense up. He and the other guard threw the elderly man to his cell's concrete floor, and called for the immediate reaction force. Neely described learning later that the reason the captive was shaking, and his body was so tense, was that he believed he was being made to kneel in preparation for his summary execution—a bullet to the back of the head.
Neely described watching a medic calling upon the immediate reaction force to hold an underweight captive immobile so he could force him to drink a can of ensure
.
When the captive wouldn't open his mouth, Neely said the medic asked Neely to move, and then punched the captive twice in the face. Neely said he only realized afterwards that the medic had him move to a point where Neely's body blocked the medics punches from the guards in the guard tower. He said later learned that the captive resisted drinking the diet supplement because he feared it was poisonous.
Neely said that he saw camp medical staff perform a rectal examination, searching for contraband, without first lubricating their fingers, and that this made the captive's scream in pain.
Neely said that it had been a friend of his who was the first guard the captives saw drop a Koran on the ground.
He said that this incident upset the captives so much it triggered a camp-wide hunger strike. While the Colonel in command of their unit said the guard who dropped the koran would be punished, his friend was never punished.
Neely said that female guards used to regularly take their turns escorting captives to the open-air showers, and that the captives felt humiliated to be exposed, naked, in front of the female guard.
Neely said that camp authorities told the guards they could not leave Guantanamo, for their next assignment, unless they signed a confidentiality agreement, promising not to give interviews about Guantanamo, or to write about their experiences there themselves.
.
Brandon Neely resigns from IVAW in early 2008 citing IVAW was becoming radical and anti-American.
Neely became a police officer after his discharge in 2005.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Neely is notable for agreeing to be interviewed by the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas at the University of California, at Davis.
Neely declined to respond to a recall to active duty from the Individual Ready Reserve
Individual Ready Reserve
The Individual Ready Reserve is a category of the Ready Reserve of the Reserve Component of the Armed Forces of the United States composed of former active duty or reserve military personnel, and is authorized under...
in 2007.
Neely reported that, after receiving letters from the Department of Defense, he was sent an honorable discharge from the Army Reserve.
In January 2010, Neely flew to the United Kingdom and meet with former captives.
Neely and Ruhal Ahmed
Ruhal Ahmed
Ruhal Ahmed is a British citizen. He was detained without trial for over two years by the United States government, first in Afghanistan, and then in Camp Delta, the United States prison for people it describes as suspects in its "War on Terror", at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, Cuba...
and Shafiq Rasul
Shafiq Rasul
Shafiq Rasul is best known for being a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay by the United States, which treated him an unlawful combatant. His detainee ID number was 86....
reconnected in 2009 via Rasul's Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page.
The BBC Radio was scheduled to air a documentary about the meeting on January 14, 2010.
Guantanamo duty
Neely was a guard at Guantanamo for the first six months the camp was open, and described feeling guilty for the brutal treatment captives received at that time.In an interview with Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas Neely said that he and another guard experienced the first resistant prisoner for whom a "code red
Code Red
-Media:* Code Red , a DVD company specializing in releasing cult films* Code Red , a 1981–1982 American television series* Code Red, the series of books for teenagers written by Chris Ryan-Music:...
" (a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for a violent extrajudicial punishment
Extrajudicial punishment
Extrajudicial punishment is punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a court or legal authority. The existence of extrajudicial punishment is considered proof that some governments will break their own legal code if deemed necessary.-Nature:Extrajudicial...
) was called, calling in the camp's first use of its immediate reaction force.
He described how he and the other guard were trying to get a captive to kneel, so they could remove the captive's shackles. He could feel the captive trembling, and his body tense up. He and the other guard threw the elderly man to his cell's concrete floor, and called for the immediate reaction force. Neely described learning later that the reason the captive was shaking, and his body was so tense, was that he believed he was being made to kneel in preparation for his summary execution—a bullet to the back of the head.
Neely described watching a medic calling upon the immediate reaction force to hold an underweight captive immobile so he could force him to drink a can of ensure
Ensure
Ensure is the brand name of a family of liquid nutritional supplements manufactured by Abbott Laboratories.The beverages are meant to be administered orally, or through nasogastric tubes, directly to the recipient's stomach....
.
When the captive wouldn't open his mouth, Neely said the medic asked Neely to move, and then punched the captive twice in the face. Neely said he only realized afterwards that the medic had him move to a point where Neely's body blocked the medics punches from the guards in the guard tower. He said later learned that the captive resisted drinking the diet supplement because he feared it was poisonous.
Neely said that he saw camp medical staff perform a rectal examination, searching for contraband, without first lubricating their fingers, and that this made the captive's scream in pain.
Neely said that it had been a friend of his who was the first guard the captives saw drop a Koran on the ground.
He said that this incident upset the captives so much it triggered a camp-wide hunger strike. While the Colonel in command of their unit said the guard who dropped the koran would be punished, his friend was never punished.
Neely said that female guards used to regularly take their turns escorting captives to the open-air showers, and that the captives felt humiliated to be exposed, naked, in front of the female guard.
Neely said that camp authorities told the guards they could not leave Guantanamo, for their next assignment, unless they signed a confidentiality agreement, promising not to give interviews about Guantanamo, or to write about their experiences there themselves.
Civilian life
Brandon Neely is the former president of the Houston chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the WarIraq Veterans Against the War
Iraq Veterans Against the War is an advocacy group of active-duty United States military personnel, Iraq War veterans, Afghanistan War veterans, and other veterans who have served since the September 11, 2001 attacks who are opposed to the U.S. occupation of Iraq...
.
Brandon Neely resigns from IVAW in early 2008 citing IVAW was becoming radical and anti-American.
Neely became a police officer after his discharge in 2005.