Red Cross interviews Afghan war prisoners

Associated Press

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – Red Cross workers began questioning al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners Friday about their treatment at the hands of the U.S. military, while rights groups insisted they should be classified as POWs for their own protection.

Four members of the International Committee of the Red Cross – including a physician, an expert on prison conditions and a linguist who speaks several languages, including Arabic – arrived Thursday for what was expected to be a weeklong visit at this U.S. military outpost.

Interviews are voluntary and include questions about the prisoners’ health, detention conditions and treatment. It was unclear how many detainees had been questioned Friday.

Before going to the camp, the team met with Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert and others directing the detention operation.

“We support and welcome their opinions on the conditions,” said Army Lt. Col. Bill Costello, spokesman for a task force overseeing the operation. “We’re expecting the Red Cross to maintain a permanent presence here.”

The visit comes as rights advocates, who have complained the prisoners are being kept in inhumane conditions – such as cells that are too small – pressed for Washington to classify the captives as prisoners of war, which would invoke protections under the Geneva Conventions.

“The United States must adhere to the Geneva Convention,” said Michael Ratner, an attorney who is vice president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. “Imagine if those were U.S. soldiers being held in cages in Guantanamo. We would insist that they receive the benefit of international legal protections.”

Amnesty International said housing detainees in the open-air chain-link cells “falls below minimum standards for humane treatment,” and that the temporary cells – 8 by 8 feet – are too small.

“The question of legal status is not just an academic question, it is a question of life and death,” said Avner Gidrone, senior policy adviser for London-based Amnesty. “If the intention is for the United States to try these prisoners through a military commission, it would almost certainly carry the death penalty, would not meet international standards and would violate standards of due process.”

Nathalie de Watteville, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Washington, D.C., said the team’s findings would be shared with U.S. officials, but would likely remain confidential.

Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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