Red Cross to visit Afghan detainees

By Susanne M. Schafer

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld declined Thursday to say how long the United States will hold the hundreds of prisoners captured in the Afghan conflict, saying he wants to get as much information out of them as possible before deciding their fate.

“It’s conceivable some could be kept in detention for a period,” Rumsfeld said at a news conference with Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes at the Pentagon.

Rumsfeld said all the prisoners will be interrogated before a decision is made on where they go next.

The Bush administration has suggested military tribunals might try those suspected of supporting terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Asked what will happen to those who may not end up facing a military tribunal, the defense secretary noted that some fled Afghanistan and have been captured by Pakistani officials, some are being held inside Afghanistan, and some are being moved to the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.

“The issue as to what happens to those people will follow the interrogations, and the process of getting as much information out of them as we can so we can prevent other terrorist attacks,” Rumsfeld said. “Some may or may not end up in a military commission, others conceivably in the U.S. criminal court system, others could be returned to their countries of nationality and be prosecuted there.”

The defense secretary said some “could be kept in detention for a period,” while additional intelligence information is gathered. He called the detainees “quite dangerous people,” and said several held in Cuba have threatened to kill Americans “the first chance they get.”

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said earlier that the Pentagon’s top lawyer visited Guantanamo this week to work on plans for military tribunals.

General Counsel William J. Haynes II led a tour Tuesday of military attorneys to the base in eastern Cuba where dozens of prisoners captured in Afghanistan are being held.

“We are charting completely new territory here. When was the last time the U.S. had detainees of any kind? These are particularly different kinds of detainees. There are a lot of procedures, a lot of policies that they are working through,” Clarke said of Haynes and the members of his office.

“They are working very, very hard on this. They are working through all the details,” she said.

The Pentagon has made a special point of calling the prisoners from the conflict in Afghanistan “unlawful combatants” who are being held as “detainees,” rather than prisoners of war, which would confer on them certain rights under the Geneva Convention dealing with the legal issues of warfare.

Under an executive order issued by President Bush, military tribunals to try non-American suspects are an option for the president and prosecutors. They also could decide to try in civilian courts all those facing terror charges in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Civil liberties groups have criticized Bush’s preliminary plans to use special military tribunals to try foreigners suspected of involvement in the hijackings and attacks.

Clarke said the 80 detainees at Guantanamo would be visited Thursday by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, including a doctor and interpreters.

The Pentagon has come under criticism from the civil liberties groups for the handling of the prisoners, which has included shackling them, putting hoods or goggles over their eyes and shaving their beards.

The Red Cross representatives will see that the detainees are getting “appropriate food,” three meals a day, and opportunities to wash, exercise and pray, Clarke said.

Clarke said 343 detainees remain in Afghanistan.

Special security precautions have been taken, Clarke said, because “these people have proven to be a great risk to lots of people.”

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

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