Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston

The Naval Consolidated Brig (NAVCONBRIG CHASN), is a medium security U.S. military prison. The brig, Building #3107, is located in the south annex of Joint Base Charleston in the city of Hanahan, South Carolina.[1][2][3]

Aerial view of the Navy Consolidated Brig in Hanahan, South Carolina.
Map of the Naval Weapons Station, indicating the location of Navconbrig Charleston

The Brig was commissioned on November 30, 1989 and accepted its first prisoners in January 1990. It has 400 cells and can hold 288 inmates.[4] It houses prisoners from all branches of the US Armed Services and conducts the Navy’s Violent Offender Treatment Program. It has been accredited by the American Correctional Association nine times: 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 & 2016.

The brig recently housed several enemy combatants, including Yasser Hamdi, José Padilla and Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri.[5] Al-Marri was the last of the three to remain at the brig, being transferred to a civilian prison after he pleaded guilty in 2009.

In October 2008 91 pages of memos drafted in 2002 by an officer at the brig became public.[6][7] The memos indicate that officers were concerned that the isolation and lack of stimuli were driving Hamdi, Padilla and Al-Marri insane.

On October 12, 2011, the Charleston Post and Courier reported on memos from E.P. Giambastiani to Charles Stimson Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, requesting that Hamdy, Padilla and al Marri be transferred to Guantanamo.[5] The memos were from 2005. Giambastiani's request was declined. The memos were released to the Post and Courier in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, filed eight years previously, for information about changes to the role of the prison triggered by al Qaeda's attacks on September 11, 2001. They wrote that when the DoD's response was finally received, "A Pentagon official apologized but gave no explanation for the long delay."

References
  1. "Visitor Information." Naval Consolidated Brig Charleston. Retrieved on May 30, 2010. The source says "The brig is located on the South Annex of the Naval Weapons Station located in North Charleston, SC." - While much of the base may lie in the city limits of North Charleston, the map of Hanahan and the base map show that the brig is located in Hanahan.
  2. "Hanahan city, South Carolina Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 30, 2010.
  3. "Charleston Base Map." Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston. Retrieved on May 30, 2010.
  4. History/Background, NAVCONBRIG CHASN Archived April 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Tony Bartelme (2011-10-12). "Memos detail Navy brig struggle: Military brass were denied OK to move terror suspects from Hanahan". Post and Courier. Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-15. In early 2005, the Navy's brig in Hanahan had become a small but unique cog in the Bush administration's anti-terrorism apparatus -- the only prison on U.S. soil that housed people the president deemed "enemy combatants."CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. Carol Cratty (2008-10-08). "Military concerned for detainees' sanity, records show". CNN. Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-08.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. "2002 Navy Consolidated Brig emails about the captives' mental health". Department of Defense. 2002. Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-09.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.