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Red Cross Criticizes Indefinite Detention in Guantánamo Bay
EFL/FU; Hat Tip to Drudge
| This is the original of the story the Beebs wrote up... |
A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday that the holding of more than 600 detainees here was unacceptable because they were being held for open-ended terms without proper legal process.
Boo Fricking Hoo!
Christophe Girod, the senior Red Cross official in Washington, said on Thursday in an interview at the United States Naval Base here, "One cannot keep these detainees in this pattern, this situation, indefinitely."
oh, really? fine, execute them
Mr. Girod spoke as he and a team of officials from the international organization were completing their latest inspection tour of the detention camp. Although he did not criticize any physical conditions at the camp, which houses 660 detainees, most of them captured in the Afghan conflict, he said that it was intolerable that the complex was used as "an investigation center, not a detention center." He said the International Red Cross was making the unusual statements because of a lack of action.
Note that the Israeliâs Red Cross (Magen David Adom)is not granted full membership in the International due to objections from European and Islamic Red Crescent Societies. They demand the Star of David be removed from their emblem and name....i.e.: No Jooooos
United States officials have said they have begun moving to sort the detainees, choosing which to release and which to take before military tribunals on criminal charges. Some officials, notably Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, have said the detainees may be held until the effort against terrorism ends.
as in ..."when weâre ready, now STFU!"
Mr. Girod said, "The open-endedness of the situation and its impact on the mental health of the population has become a major problem."
| Interning enemy aliens seems to make sense to me. The RC's problem is that they're thinking of them as POW's or as crooks, where the Bad Guys have managed to invent a third category for themselves. One day, if the rest of the world manages to take terrorism seriously, some sort of rules will be worked out to cover them, but right now they've taken themselves out of the rulebook... |
In 18 months, 21 detainees have made 32 suicide attempts, and human rights groups have said the high incidence of such events, as well as the number of detainees being treated for clinical depression, was a direct result of the uncertainties of their situations.
cry me a river
| Since mental instability is a job requirement for jihadis, I'm not surprised in the least. Nor [tap! tap!] do I have the least bit of sympathy... |
Mr. Girod said that in meetings with members of his inspection teams, detainees regularly asked about what was going to happen to them. "Itâs always the No. 1 question," he said. "They donât know about the future."
| Perhaps they should dwell on their glory days, waving guns, rolling their eyes, and beating other men's wives... |
Camp officials have said most of the detaineesâ mental health problems existed before they arrived.
Mr. Girodâs comments departed from the usual reluctance of the International Red Cross to issue public criticism. The International Committee of the Red Cross, based in Geneva, is the sole group outside the government allowed to inspect the main detention center and meet the detainees. Under longstanding procedures, the committee agrees that in exchange for access it will not generally publicize its findings but rather take complaints or criticisms to the government in charge in the hope that they can be addressed. Only when the Red Cross decides that its views are not being heeded does it publicize its concerns. Mr. Girod said the views he was expressing had recently been placed on the Red Cross Web site, www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf /html/5QRC5V?OpenDocument.
| Now available for Fisking... |
He said the International Red Cross had been urging the Bush administration for months to make significant changes in operations here if it intended to keep using the site as an investigation center. The administration, Mr. Girod added, should consider establishing a policy under which most, if not all, of the detainees have some idea of when they can learn whether they will be charged or released. The military has released 68 detainees to their home countries. Most of those sent to Afghanistan were freed. Those sent to Saudi Arabia were imprisoned there.
| That sounds like a good thing to me... |
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller of the Army, commander of the task force that runs the detention center and oversees the questioning of the detainees, said in an interview, "We donât want the enemy combatants here to stay one day longer than is necessary." General Miller said the inmates had been kept in custody because they had valuable information to impart.
We ainât done squeezing them. A little problem with translators
Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-10 |
