A vow to kill Americans

Associated Press

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Thirty more al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners arrived Wednesday at this remote U.S. military base, where officials warned that several inmates have threatened to kill an American during their time here.

About 60 armed Marines met the group, which arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force C-141 cargo plane. The soldiers grasped each prisoner by the shoulders and led them to waiting school buses.

The inmates’ ankles were chained together and they wore bright orange jumpsuits, knit caps and surgical masks. They were also blindfolded for security reasons.

The latest group brings the total number of prisoners at the base to 80, said Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, commander of U.S. Joint Task Force 160 overseeing the operation in Guantanamo Bay.

Thirty additional prisoners were flown from Kandahar on Wednesday and will boost the total number at Guantanamo Bay to 110 once they arrive.

"These are not nice people," Lehnert told a news conference at an aircraft hangar on the base in eastern Cuba. "Several have publicly stated here their intent to kill an American before they leave Guantanamo Bay. We will not give them that satisfaction."

Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Wednesday urged respect for the prisoners’ rights.

"All persons detained … are entitled to the protection of international human rights law and humanitarian law," Robinson told reporters in Geneva. "I would like to see a strong affirmation that these standards are the fundamental principles of democratic countries and the rule of law, rather than reluctant concessions …"

Human rights campaigners have criticized detention conditions. The London-based rights group Amnesty International said the plan to house detainees in "cages" would "fall below minimum standards for humane treatment," and that the temporary cells — 6 feet by 8 feet — are smaller than "that considered acceptable under U.S. standards for ordinary prisoners."