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Downer won't press US for 'torture' report
 The Australian Government says it has tried and failed so far to get a copy of a report by the International Red Thingy Cross which claims psychological and physical coercion of detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The New York Times newspaper published leaked details of the report, which accuses the American military of beating some detainees, as well as using physical coercion described as "tantamount to torture". Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says the Red Thingy Cross has denied Australia's request to see the report, and it is not appropriate to ask the US for a copy. Mr Downer says he will wait for the results of a US Naval investigation into allegations of mistreatment at the prison. "If there are any concerns about maltreatment then that's something that we'd vigorously take up with the Americans," he said.
The Red Thingy Cross says it cannot release reports because of a confidentiality agreement with the US. "While the ICRTC has felt compelled to make some of its concerns public, notably regarding the legal status of the detainees, the primary channel for addressing issues related to detention remains its direct and confidential dialogue with the US authorities," it says on its website. "The ICRTC's lack of public comment on the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees must therefore not be interpreted to mean that it has no concerns. Confidentiality is an important working tool for the ICRTC in order to preserve the exclusively humanitarian and neutral nature of its work."
The lawyer for David Hicks, Stephen Kenny says the Red Thingy Cross report alleging torture is consistent with inmate statements. "What it does is confirm the treatment and the allegations that have previously been made by not only David to us, but by others who have been released," he said.
| Please tell me that this lawyer is just being a mouthpiece and that he's not this gullible. |
The report, which the Red Thingy Cross is yet to confirm, says some prison doctors violated medical ethics by helping plan interrogations. The Pentagon says it is not mistreating detainees at Guantanamo Bay. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has defended the US Government's treatment of detainees. "They're treated humanely and in accordance with standard international, relevant international practice," he said.
Australia's minor political parties have seized on the report. Incoming Democrats leader Lyn Allison accuses the Government of not doing enough for Australian detainees David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib. "It's been prepared to walk away and say, 'well, we'll just leave it up to the United States' and I think that's an abrogation of responsibility," she said.
Posted by: God Save The World 2004-12-05 |
