Red Cross to visit Guantanamo

2006-09-24 14:18

Geneva - Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are due to travel to Cuba on Monday for the first independent visit with the 14 detainees moved from secret CIA prisons, an ICRC spokesperson said.

The visit follows President Bush's announcement earlier this month that the 14 high security prisoners, including the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, were being moved from secret CIA prisons to Guantanamo.

It was the first admission by the US Government that the camps had indeed existed. Last week the UN Human Rights Council was assured by the US that no other prisoners were now held in secret detention centres.

Bush's acknowledgement was followed by an invitation to the ICRC to visit the detainees who Bush has promised would now face trail.

An ICRC spokesperson said the visit mainly by its Washington team would last two weeks and would be a standard visit with private access.

- SAPA