WASHINGTON (voa) – U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says Taleban and al-Qaida detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being treated humanely.
Mr. Rumsfeld Tuesday denied allegations that the detainees human rights are being violated. He defended U.S. treatment of the captives, saying they are dangerous criminals who have threatened to kill their guards. Mr. Rumsfeld says although Washington does not formally consider the detainees to be prisoners of war, U.S. forces are treating them in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
Officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross visiting Guantanamo say they presume the detainees are prisoners of war by definition.
Human rights advocates and British and E.U. officials have criticized the treatment of the detainees. The criticism intensified after this week’s publication of photographs showing the detainees shackled and wearing blacked-out goggles.
The U.S. military is holding 158 detainees at Guantanamo and more than 200 in Afghanistan. The captives in Cuba are reported to include 17 Yemenis, three Britons, a Dane and a Swede. Yemen has asked the United States to allow its diplomats access to the Yemeni prisoners.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in California says he may not have jurisdiction over a case filed by U.S. civil rights advocates that calls on the U.S. government to bring formal charges against the Guantanamo captives. Both sides have until February 14 to prepare their arguments.
