31Dec03-AFP-Red Cross demands access to Saddam
The international Red Cross has asked the US-led coalition in Iraq for access to captured former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Under the Geneva Conventions the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has the right to contact any prisoner of war or detained civilian.
"We have been in contact with the Americans regularly concerning prisoners of war and other detainees in Iraq and in the course of this contact we have also talked about Saddam Hussein," ICRC spokesman Florian Westphal said.
"Saddam Hussein, as somebody protected by the Geneva Conventions, has a right to ICRC visits," he said.
The agency, which is the internationally-recognised guardian of the Geneva Conventions, has asked for access to the former president since his capture by US forces on December 14, Mr Westphal said, without elaborating.
The ICRC was merely following its mandate with regards to seeking access to all detained people, he explained.
"There are a number of different factors which can have an influence on each individual case. The general idea is that it should happen as soon as possible," Mr Westphal said.
The ICRC is working under the assumption that Saddam Hussein is a prisoner of war and therefore protected by the third Geneva Convention, which details minimum standards of humane treatment, underlining the responsibility of the "detaining power", in this case the United States.
It says that prisoners are only bound to give their name, rank, date of birth and equivalent information, and forbids physical or mental torture, or "any other form of coercion ... to secure from them any kind of information whatever".
"Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind", the convention adds.
-- AFP
Print Email
abc.net.au |
