If what little information we do hear about Gitmo is enough to eclipse far worse abuses found in secret prisons, then the complicit corporate media obviously has some questions to answer along with our government.

Surprisingly, Stafford Smith, who represents about 30 of the detainees, has reservations concerning the dominance of Guantanamo on the news agenda.

He says the much bigger picture - the suspected 27,000 prisoners held by the US in secret prisons around the world - is being overshadowed by the abuses of Guantanamo.

These “ghost prisoners”, held without charge in the dark recesses of the “war on terror” for instance Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, are the real issue, says Stafford Smith. This is what the public, and by implication the media, are missing, he says.

However bad those in Guantanamo have it, Stafford Smith believes conditions for these other prisoners are far worse.

Reprieve, the non-profit organisation that Stafford Smith founded, is attempting to name and locate these prisoners, but it is an arduous task.

And for the majority of those known to be held, there is little assistance - most do not have legal representation.

read the entire article…