GITMO - UK prisoners have no complaints

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BBC

Feroz Abbasi has been confirmed as a suspect

The three British al-Qaeda/Taleban suspects being held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba have "no complaints" about their treatment, according to British officials who have seen them.

They only wear shackles when they are outside their cells

The Prime Minister's official spokesman The three are in "good physical health" and are being treated well, according to a British team who have spent the weekend with them.

The Foreign Office has confirmed the name of one of the suspects, Feroz Abbasi, from Croydon, but is refusing to release the names of the other two British men held at the camp.

Another 34 suspects have arrived at the US Naval base in Guantanomo Bay, wearing shackles and black out goggles as they were led off the aircraft.

'No mistreatment'

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the government had received a report from British officials on Monday morning.

He said the government would now take time to study the report in detail.

Pictures released last week raised fears about human rights "We said people should not rush into judgement and now we know the facts," the spokesman said.

The three British nationals in the camp were "able to speak freely and without inhibition," he added.

"There is no sign of any mistreatment.

"They have also had contact with the Red Cross.

"They asked for a number of messages to be passed on to their families, which we are doing.

"There were no gags, no goggles, no ear muffs and no shackles while they were in their cells.

"They only wear shackles when they are outside their cells."

'Helpful and open'

He said the three suspects "get three meals a day, including a "pre-packed Islamic meal for lunch", as much water as they need and daily medical checks.

"The Red Cross is arranging for them to have copies of the Koran," the prime minister's spokesman added.

"They have also been provided with washing materials and calls to prayer are being broadcast over the camp public address system."

The prisoner's cells were "basic but fit" and the US military authorities had been "helpful and open throughout the visit," he said.

Pictures in the press over the weekend showing bound and gagged men were taken shortly after the suspects arrived in Cuba, the spokesman said.

The British team were there to assess their identity and welfare.

Geneva convention

The prime minister "thinks people should not rush to judgement but should establish the facts.

His view remains that the assurances we were given that they were being treated in humane conditions is the case.

The US has said they are being held in accordance with the Geneva convention," the spokesman said.

Earlier, Mr Abbasi's MP, Geraint Davies, was among Labour backbenchers expressing their worries about the way the men were being treated.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The perception of the treatment as opposed to the real treatment is counter productive in the Muslim community."

Basic standards

Mr Davies said the Muslim community in general supported the action against terror groups in Afghanistan but uncertainty about conditions at Camp X-Ray did not help.

Click here for details of a prisoner's cell

There are 144 prisoners at the base, after the arrival of 34 more suspects early on Monday. The camp is eventually expected to hold more than 300 detainees.

The officials - believed to include British intelligence officers - flew back to Washington on Sunday.

While Downing Street does not want to be seen as criticising the US over the treatment of prisoners at Camp X-Ray, it is clear there is concern, especially from a number of Labour MPs.

Humane treatment

Mr Straw said: "The British Government's position is that prisoners - regardless of their technical status - should be treated humanely and in accordance with customary international law.

"We have always made that clear and the Americans have said they share this view." The US - which maintains the detainees are being treated humanely - refuses to call them prisoners of war, referring to them as illegal combatants.

Under the Geneva Convention, PoWs must be tried by the same courts and under the same procedures as US soldiers.

Under that status, prisoners would be tried for war crimes through courts-martial or civilian courts, not by secretive military tribunals which could impose the death penalty.

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-- Anonymous, January 21, 2002

Answers

Wish I could say the same for all those who died in the attacks...

-- Anonymous, January 21, 2002

For propaganda purposes, we have to bend over backwards in our treatment of these swine. I don't like it and I'm sure I speak for the whole forum, but that's the reality.

-- Anonymous, January 21, 2002

speak for the whole forum? I'd say you speak for almost the whole country, if not the world.

-- Anonymous, January 21, 2002

We have to treat the detainees humanely because we ARE humane, that's why--we're basically not cruel people. They are the ones who come from countries where 3rd century law and customs prevail. We are not going to let them drag us down to their sorry level. No matter how much we fantasize about putting cattle prods to their goolies and covering them in pork lard, most of us really don't want to do that. Not that we want them in a resort hotel, of course not. But we will give them the necessities which, as so many have pointed out, is a helluva lot more than they had in their caves and cellars in Afghanistan--and perhaps, for many of them, better than they had in their own lands.

This doesn't mean I'm not still angry. I am. And I get even more angry when people like Jack Straw and Robert Altman open their big mouths and spew venom. But I will not sink to their level, absolutely not, and will fight their bullshit by exposing them for the hypocrites they are where possible. Robert Altman--makes a substantial fortune off the backs of regular moviegoers, like you and me, gets to keep the vast majority of it, courtesy of our capital system, then says he's embarrassed when he sees the flag flying, doesn't want to come back to the US. Asshole.

-- Anonymous, January 22, 2002


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