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Rumsfeld
to Visit Guantanamo as US Congress Delegation Denies Detainee
Mistreatment
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| A
group of U.S. detainees shackled, blindfolded, kneeling and
wearing earmuffs |
WASHINGTON,
Jan. 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld is set to fly to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Sunday to
inspect the U.S. naval base where captured Taliban and Al Qaeda
fighters are being detained and talk to military officials, the
Pentagon announced.
On
Friday, a delegation of 20 members of the U.S. Congress toured a
detention camp housing 158 prisoners from Afghanistan, following
allegations of ill-treatment of inmates.
The
visit is the latest in a series arranged by the U.S. military in the
face of accusations of mistreatment of the prisoners who arrived
shackled and hooded at the open-air, maximum-security facility for
indefinite incarceration.
International
outcry against conditions in the camp followed the recent release of
a U.S. Department of Defense photograph showing a group of prisoners
shackled, blindfolded, kneeling and wearing earmuffs.
The
U.S. lawmakers said conditions were 'generally good' at the camp,
and Peter DeFazio, a Democrat representative from Oregon, said,
"one photo has been taken out of context."
Many
human rights organizations have raised concern about the conditions
and treatment of the 168 detainees, who are kept in 8-by-8-foot
outdoor cells, with solid roofs and walls made of fencing material.
Indiana
Republican Steve Byer also dismissed charges of ill treatment
following the tour.
"The
allegations are unsubstantiated," he told reporters following
the visit.
He
said earlier the primary objective of the tour by 17 members of the
U.S. House of Representatives and three U.S. Senators was to
"see how we treat our detainees, but also give our support to
the military forces."
Two
members of the U.S. Senate's Armed Forces Committee, Florida
Democrat Bill Nelson and Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, were on
the trip.
The
U.S. military has temporarily suspended transfers of prisoners from
Afghanistan, though officials have strenuously denied that the halt
came in response to mounting criticism, even from European allies,
about mistreatment of the detainees called "the worst of the
worst" by the Bush administration.
Representative
Constance Morella, a Republican from Maryland, said after the visit
that the 158 detainees on the base came from 25 nations. Some of the
detainees she saw were reading the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book,
she said.
"We
felt that the principles of the third Geneva Convention of 1949 were
basically being followed," said Morella, reported CNN.
"They do have water, they have food, shelter. They have medical
treatment. ... We came back feeling that a good job was being done
under the difficult circumstances."
The
military classifies the detainees as "war criminals," not
prisoners of war, exempting the U.S. from requirements under the
1949 Geneva Convention, which was ratified but not signed by the
United States.
The
visiting congressional officials defended how the detainees are
restrained, noting they are not restrained in their cells, but they
are when they are taken out.
"These
are very, very dangerous people," DeFazio said. "They were
screened and chosen and sent first because of their leadership roles
either in Al Qaeda or the Taliban. We are told that there were
statements by one of the detainees that when he gets the chance he
intends to kill Americans."
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