U.S. military leaders should decide how to label Taliban and al-Qaida captives being detained at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
If their intention is to treat the fighters as prisoners of war, as they should, they need to inform the world of that decision.
As the war on terrorism stretches on, America stands to lose the foreign support it once had.
Most recently, the U.S. government has come under criticism over conditions at newly erected prisoner camps.
A U.S. district judge Tuesday delayed ruling on a petition from U.S. civil rights advocates challenging the detention of the prisoners - whom the United States labels as detainees. The petition calls for suspects to be brought before a court to hear charges against them, as dictated by the U.S. legal standard of due process
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said those being held at the naval base should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has sent a four-person inspection team to the base, said the United States may already have violated the conventions by releasing photographs of prisoners kneeling in shackles and wearing large black goggles and ear cups. In addition, human rights activists have expressed concerns about disease-carrying mosquitoes on the island. the inmates are held in chain-link fence cages with metal roofs.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday the detainees were being treated humanely in the 8-feet-by-8-feet cells in Guantanamo Bay. British Prime Minister Tony Blair backed the United States. on Monday saying the three Britons held in the prison camp “had no complaints.”
The military is holding 158 Taliban and al-Qaida captives in Cuba and another 275 in Afghanistan.
It is understandable that these prisoners would be shackled and kept in simple living conditions. These are potentially dangerous people captured in the process of war. We cannot blame the United States. for its detention methods.
But it is imperative that if these prisoners are declared as POWs that they be treated according to international standards.
America’s actions in this situation are crucial to foreign relations and support in the war on terrorism - we cannot justify terrorizing accused terrorists.
And if these detainees are not declared POWs, we should apply our constitutional right to stand before a judge in open court. An American sense of fairness and justice mandates us to do so.
The government has done a fair job in respecting the detainees’ right to worship. A Muslim cleric has been sent from the Navy to the prison camp.
It is imperative the United States honor these detainees’ basic human rights. But human rights activists should understand these people don’t deserve resort-style treatment if they are declared POWs.
The time has come for the United States to show the world its intentions with these prisoners. And the time has come for the United States to show the world it can live up to its own standards on human rights.
