Guantanamo probe thwarted

2005-11-16 12:24

Washington - The United States has refused a demand from United Nations human rights monitors for unconditional inspection of its military prison at Guantanamo, saying Washington has co-operated.

On Tuesday, UN special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, warned the United States that UN inspectors would not visit the base in December as scheduled, unless Washington agreed to unrestricted access without conditions.

"The situation is very clear: if the US does not accept an unconditional inspection, we will not go," said Nowak.

US state department spokesperson, Adam Ereli, said that Washington was open to international inspectors but it would not agree to the UN request for free access to detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba.

"The way to deal with us is not by ultimatum. That's not real helpful and that's not real co-operative," said Ereli.

'We have nothing to hide'

"We have been open. We have been transparent. We have nothing to hide."

Ereli added that the US has provided regular access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), consulting with governments following the cases of their nationals detained at the base. He described Washington's approach was "sufficient".

"There are procedures that we follow with regard to access to Guantanamo and access to detainees. And that follows guidelines set up by international convention.

"We think those guidelines are appropriate, and that's what we're following with respect to the visit of the UN special rapporteurs and that's what's guiding our thinking on this issue," said Ereli.

The US government has been sharply criticised for conditions at Guantanamo, where 520 detainees are held without trial. Some have gone on hunger strikes.

Most of those held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base prison were captured after a US-led offensive toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in late 2001.

The US has declared the detainees "illegal enemy combatants" who are not protected by the Geneva Conventions.

According to Nowak, the UN has already agreed to limit the inspection of the prison to a single day, instead of three, and to send three investigators instead of five.

The UN team is due to visit the base on December 6 to investigate allegations of torture, and plans to prepare a report on the camp by the end of December.

Nowak said that the US stance compared poorly to China, which had agreed to unrestricted access to its jails.

Nowak said that, if the inspection did not go ahead, the UN team would still write a report on conditions at the prison based on eyewitness accounts.

- AFP