U.S. treating Taliban well, Larsen says

By Kate Reardon

Herald Writer

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, who visited Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba on Friday, says prisoners there are being treated better than women were under the Taliban regime.

"The detainees are being treated very humanely," Larsen, D-Wash., said in a phone interview late Friday afternoon.

Larsen was among a group of about 20 congressional members who spent four hours in Cuba visiting the detention camp where the first Taliban and al-Quaida terrorist suspects are being held. The group met with military troops and toured a hospital.

Larsen even caught up with Eduardo Jany, a Monroe police K-9 sergeant who was activated by the Marine Corps to serve in foreign counterintelligence special operations. So far, Jany said, he’s been in three countries since being called up.

"Please let our folks at home know that although we are far away, we are proud to be serving," he said via e-mail on Friday. "I myself missed my baby’s first steps and first birthday because of this. But the sacrifice is well worth it for their freedom and security."

The congressional delegation was driven on white buses into Camp X-ray, the detention facility fortified by three layers of fences topped by razor wire and patrolled by attack dogs.

It was "unnerving to be within 20 feet of someone who would be willing to kill Americans," Larsen said. "What was on my mind a lot were my wife and kids, and knowing that we have a long way to go to ensure that our future in this country can continue to be safe."

He said the detainees have three meals a day that meet Muslim dietary laws, copies of the Koran, prayer sessions during the day led by an Army chaplain, and access to showers, medical care and water.

Larsen said Congress will be considering plans soon on a new building that would have walls, beds, sinks and toilets to house the prisoners. Another temporary facility is being built to house more detainees, since there are as many as 290 more in Central Asia that still may be coming to Camp X-ray, he said.

On their visit, officials saw several inmates, including a woman and 26-year-old David Hicks, an Australian who had threatened to kill an American.

Officials from Australia told journalists Friday that they continue to assess the legal position of Hicks, who was caught fighting with the Taliban army.

The Australian had his back to the delegation, said Larsen, who wasn’t sure who the woman was. He said many prisoners had towels on their heads and were either talking with one another, sleeping or reading the Koran, Islam’s holy book.

Several governments are demanding the United States give the captives prisoner of war status under the Geneva Conventions, which rules out trial by military tribunal.

Many of the Afghan war detainees now held at Guantanamo Bay will likely be returned to their homelands after investigators complete interrogations that began on Wednesday, said U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.

The 158 prisoners come from 25 countries, Marine Brig. Gen. Mike Lehnert told reporters without identifying the nations. Previously, U.S. officials said prisoners there were from 10 countries. It was unclear whether the United States would demand that the detainees be returned on condition they be put on trial at home. U.S. lawmakers have said they consider the detained fighters a danger to society who would kill again if set free.

Some of Washington’s staunchest allies continue to protest the possibility that the prisoners, all fighters with the Taliban or the al-Qaida terrorist network that it sheltered, could be tried by secret U.S. military tribunals empowered with the death penalty.

Rep. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, expressed concerns about dangers facing troops at Guantanamo. "We know the military is stressed here a great deal. I think it’s important to make sure they have what they need," Sessions said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

You can call Herald Writer Kate Reardon at 425-339-3455 or send e-mail to reardon@heraldnet.com.

Submitted photo