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Bush
Defends U.S. Treatment of Guantanamo Detainees
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| US faces
world criticism over treatment of Guantanamo prisoners |
With
additional reporting by S.M. Khalid
WASHINGTON,
Jan. 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. President George W. Bush
rejected the U.S. military's treatment of detainees from Afghanistan in
Guantanamo, saying Wednesday it was "dignified" and "humane"
through a White House spokesman.
"The
President is perfectly satisfied that the traditions of the United States, which
are to treat people well, treat people with dignity, and to treat people
humanely are being kept at our base in Guantanamo," said spokesman Ari
Fleischer.
Earlier
in Paris Wenesday, European parliament President Pat Cox condemned the prison
conditions at "Camp X-Ray" at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba where 158
Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners are being held at the isolated base on Cuba's
southeastern coast. Another 270 are being detained by the U.S. military in or
near Afghanistan.
After
viewing photos of blindfolded and shackled prisoners at Guantanamo, Cox said the
United States must make every effort to protect the rights of detainees.
"The
question can be asked as to whether this treatment is really a form of
torture," Cox told French radio station BFM.
Cox
said it was important for the European Union to keep pressurizing Washington to
ensure "the war on terrorism is always based on the right values."
However,
Fleischer added that "The President (Bush) also understands that for the
most part, they are Al-Qaeda, and if they were free they would engage in murder
once again".
"These
are not mere innocents, these are among the worst of the worst, who are being
detained because of what they have done, because of the suicidal nature of the
actions that they have taken, their willingness, their training to go out and
kill and destroy and engage in suicide if they can take others with them."
Fleischer
said Bush is equally concerned that U.S. soldiers guarding the detainees could
be harmed in uprisings like the one staged in November by Taliban and Al-Qaeda
members near Mazar-e-Sharif in which Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative
Johnny "Mike'" Spann was killed.
The
Pentagon announced earlier this week that it has temporarily suspended the
transfer of prisoners from Afghanistan to Cuba so that the detention facilities
can be expanded.
European
nations criticized conditions there after a visit by the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the release of a photograph by the Department of
Defense showing a group of prisoners shackled, blindfolded, kneeling and wearing
earmuffs. They are being kept at an outdoor detention facility in individual
cells with a roof, concrete floor and chain-link walls.
European
Union officials, plus officials from Germany and the Netherlands, some British
legislators, the ICRC and human rights groups have demanded the detainees be
given POW status.
Under
the Geneva Conventions, that would entitle them to trials under the same
procedures as U.S. soldiers - through court-martial or civilian courts - not
through military tribunals as the Bush administration has proposed.
Chris
Patten, the European Union's external relations commissioner, said the West
risks losing the moral high ground if it mistreats any of them.
"We
have to make clear that what we are concerned about is justice, not vengeance,''
Patten said.
Al-Qaeda
fighters probably would not qualify as POWs because they wore no identifying
insignia and did not abide by the laws of war, said Jamie Fellner, director of
the U.S. program of Human Rights Watch.
But
Taliban fighters, whether Afghan or Arab, made up Afghanistan's armed forces and
should be entitled to POW status, Fellner said.
In
a private meeting with lawmakers, Bush thumped a conference table for emphasis
while defending measures taken to ensure the safety of U.S. troops guarding the
suspects.
"You
should be proud. We're continuing to protect our people,'' Bush said, according
to White House and congressional sources at the meeting. Bush also said the
detainees were getting medical treatment and adequate food.
One
lawmaker at the meeting, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, said afterward that the
United States is treating the detainees humanely and will act in accordance with
Geneva Convention standards.
"Quite
frankly, most of these prisoners are Al-Qaeda," said Hastert, "they're
terrorists, they're people who, without conscience, took over 2,000 lives. I
think they need to be dealt with on a very severe basis, yet fair.”
European
allies and human rights groups have criticized U.S. treatment of the detainees,
saying they must be given the same rights as prisoners of war.
However,
Hastert disagrees.
"These
aren't military people. They don't belong to a country, they don't wear a
uniform, they're not part of an army,” Hastert said. "It's a unique
situation and we'll have to deal with it in a unique way.”
Hastert
echoed the sentiments of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who said Tuesday
that critics are "misinformed'' and America's priority is interrogating
them to get information to prevent attacks - not determining if they qualify as
POWs.
"That
is pure, simple self-defense of the United States of America,” Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld
said they eventually would be charged or released. U.S. officials have not
decided if they qualify as POWs, and calls them “battlefield detainees”.
They are being treated "humanely,” as the Geneva Conventions require for
so-called unlawful combatants, the defense secretary said.
Some
critics also have raised concerns that some U.S. soldiers, if captured, could be
held as "unlawful combatants'' by an enemy, because some wore local
clothes, not uniforms, when inside Afghanistan. But Rumsfeld said that was
unlikely because they carried identification as soldiers.
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