US: Concern has been expressed by human rights organisations and the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Mrs Mary Robinson, about both the conditions in which captured fighters are being held at the Guantanamo base in Cuba and their formal status.
To date, while guaranteeing the prisoners the rights of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, the US continues to refuse to describe them either as criminal suspects or POWs, preferring instead the term "unlawful combatants". Such distinctions have implications for the interrogation and trial of the prisoners.
POWs have rights under the 1949 Geneva Convention, such as their own lawyer and trial by an independent, impartial court. A POW cannot be forced to divulge more than his name, rank, serial number and age.
Mrs Robinson said she was "very concerned" at the treatment the detainees were receiving.
"I think it is important at a time of difficulty that human rights and international humanitarian standards be clearly upheld and observed," she told a news conference in Geneva. "If anything, it is more important at times of stress and anxiety and feelings of insecurity that there is an affirmation of these values."
Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal reports that an al-Qaeda computer file purchased by one of its reporters in Kabul contained a report from an agent of the organisation spelling out "exceptionally good opportunities" for terrorism in Israel and Egypt.
The agent appears to have travelled the same route around the Middle East at the same time as Robert Reid (28), the Briton arrested in December trying to blow up an aircraft with explosives in his shoes. Now being held in Massachusetts, Reid had not previously been directly connected to al- Qaeda and had claimed to be acting alone.
US prosecutors last night filed new charges, accusing him of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and being trained by al-Qaeda. He could face the death penalty over the new charges, which include attempted murder and attempting to use an explosive device.
The Guantanamo prisoners are being held in temporary 6 by 8 ft pens exposed to the elements, with metal roofs and chain-link fencing, pending the construction of long-term prison facilities. The cells have concrete floors but prisoners are provided with mats and blankets, the Pentagon says.
"Each day the detainees are given three culturally appropriate meals," Ms Victoria Clarke, the Pentagon spokeswoman insisted, adding that they could shower and exercise daily and had access to medical facilities.
Human Rights Watch's US director, Mr Jamie Fellner, said: "We're concerned about the conditions, the open cages, the chain-link enclosures, and believe this does not meet international norms." Others have complained about some prisoners being hooded during transit, attributed by the US authorities to security requirements for dangerous prisoners, and of the cutting of beards and hair, argued to be necessary as a delousing measure.
Amnesty has joined the International Committee of the Red Cross in demanding POW status, insisting that the designation is not at the discretion of the US authorities but should be decided by the courts. Human Rights Watch, in its annual report published yesterday, has also warned that the campaign against terrorism has been used by many US allies to clamp down on civil rights for their own political ends.
