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U.S. Defies International Criticism On Cuban Prisoners
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U.S.
Presidnet Bush pounds his lectern as he speaks
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With additional by Ayesha Ahmad, IOL Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9,2002 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Against rising international criticism, the U.S. on Friday defended its decision, announced Thursday, to withhold "prisoner of war" status from the 186 prisoners being held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Taliban prisoners would be protected, but not al-Qaeda fighters under the Geneva Conventions.
In response to questions about how the U.S. "gets around" the Conventions, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "We don't get around it, but what we do is read the whole sentence."
Article 5 of the Third Geneva states clearly that: "Should any doubt arise as to whether persons, having committed a belligerent act and having fallen into the hands of the enemy, belong to any of the categories enumerated in Article 4, such persons shall enjoy the protection of the present Convention until such time as their status has been determined by a competent tribunal."
Boucher explained that a tribunal was only necessary if there were any doubt in the situation. He said, "It's quite clear that if there's any factual or reasonable basis for doubt… then of course we'd be willing to review it. We don't think there's any doubt in this situation."
He said there was a "lack of any criteria that meet the standards of the Geneva Convention" regarding the classification of Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners as POW's.
POWs status is granted to persons falling into one of six categories described in Article 4, including members of militias opposing the detaining power, even if the authority they fight under is not recognized by the detaining power, such as the Taliban.
According to the Convention, POW, status would notably grant the detainees the right to refuse to give more than name, rank and serial number when interrogated.
The State Department on Friday also denied media reports that the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is the guarantor of the Geneva Convention, disagreed with the decision on the prisoners' status.
Boucher said that media reports "misconstrued" statements made earlier by an ICRC spokesman in Geneva saying that a "competent tribunal" was required first to determine the prisoners' status.
"We've talked to the ICRC," Boucher said. "Our ambassador in Geneva spoke to ICRC President Jacob Kellenberger today.
"Kellenberger has told us that news reports misconstrued the ICRC's position."
"He further indicated the ICRC is still studying [President George W. Bush's decision] and will come to us with their views in due course," Boucher added.
ICRC spokesman Kim Gordon-Bates had said earlier Friday, "Anybody captured in a context of an international conflict... is covered by the Third Geneva Convention and therefore is presumed to be a prisoner of war unless a competent tribunal decides otherwise."
The ICRC said that it was awaiting the statement from the White House to weigh the full legal implications of the decision, according to an earlier report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Bates said the ICRC "had, on first sight, no problem with the fact that some people are refused" the status of POW by a tribunal, but stressed there was a judicial process to be followed, and that this should be done on a "case by case" basis.
At the State Department, Boucher did not give further details on the possible dissension between Kellenberger and his spokesman, but said that Washington's decision on the prisoners would stand in any case.
On Thursday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that Taliban fighters were ineligible for POW status under the convention.They had not effectively distinguished themselves from the civilian population and had shunned "the laws and customs of war," two of the criteria mentioned in Article 4 in one of the categories listed.
Moreover, Bush late on Thursday announced that the Geneva Convention protections would apply to captured Taliban fighters, but not to al-Qaeda fighters.
The ICRC was one of a number of international bodies that expressed criticism Friday of Washington's decision. Amnesty International, a London-based human rights group, said that it was up to the law, and not the U.S., to determine the prisoners' status. It released a statement Thursday saying that the Geneva Conventions "apply to every one of the prisoners held at Guantanamo and those detained in Afghanistan."
Another Geneva-based group, the International Commission of Jurists, also criticized Washington's decision on Friday, saying it was "incorrect in law" and that the application of the 1949 Geneva Convention could not be done on a selective basis, AFP reported.
Finally, a message from France on Friday echoed the same sentiments in maintaining its position that the Geneva Convention should protect all the Cuban detainees.
"France's position has not changed," French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Laurence Auer said. "We believe that all the prisoners at Guantanamo should enjoy all the rights guaranteed by international law.
However, like the ICRC, France said they are still studying the legal analysis of their decision.
"The United States have sent us their legal analysis of the situation. We are busy studying it," she added. "We do not have all the facts on which they have based this legal position."
Aside from the 186 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. military is holding another 269 prisoners in Afghanistan, AFP reported.
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