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Bush rethinks Guantanamo
09/06/2005 13:57 - (SA)
Washington - President George W Bush said on Wednesday he was ready to examine alternatives to the United States camp for "war on terror" detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but defended the treatment of prisoners there.
Asked in a US television interview whether the camp should be shut down, Bush said: "We're exploring all alternatives as to how best to do the main objective, which is to protect America. What we don't want to do is let somebody out that comes back and harms us."
The United States has faced international criticism of the detention centre at its naval base in Cuba since it was opened in early 2002 to house alleged Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. There are currently about 540 inmates from 40 countries there.
Controversy has risen in recent weeks over allegations about the abuse of Muslim holy books there and former president Jimmy Carter on Tuesday joined US politicians and The New York Times in calling for Guantanamo's closure.
'Necessary'
US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday, during a trip to Norway, that the United States was not considering closing Guantanamo.
"I know of no one in the US government in the executive branch that is considering closing Guantanamo. It is unfortunately something that is necessary in the world we're living in," Rumsfeld told reporters in Stavanger, Norway.
Bush and Rumsfeld insisted prisoners at the camp were treated humanely.
The president told Fox News television: "I first of all want to assure the American people that these prisoners are being treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
"I say in accordance with, because these weren't normal military-type fighters. They had no uniforms. They had no government structure.
"These were terrorists, swept up off the battlefield in a place like Afghanistan, for example. And it's in our nation's interest that we learn a lot about those people that are still in detention, because we're still trying to find out how to better protect our country."
Bush insisted that all allegations of abuse were investigated. He reaffirmed his comment that an Amnesty International report likening Guantanamo to a "gulag" was "absurd."
Amnesty is not the only rights group to call on the Bush administration to investigate alleged abuses at the prison.
Human Rights Watch has also raised concerns about the prison while US media reports have detailed instances were female interrogators at the camp, some of them scantily clad, touched Muslim prisoners suggestively and smeared them with red dye intended to simulate menstrual blood. However, the US' top military officer General Richard Myers and other officials say abuse allegations by inmates are not credible and that al-Qaeda training manuals coach members on how to make false abuse claims if captured.
- AFP
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