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Pastimes : Rarely is the question asked: "is our children learning"

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To: John Sladek who wrote (2061)2/15/2004 7:32:05 AM
From: John Sladek  Read Replies (1) of 2171
 
Camp Delta Prisoner's Father Rejects Rumsfeld Assurances

By Tim Ross, PA News Sat 14 Feb 2004

The father of a British man held at Guantanamo Bay tonight rejected assurances from US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the detainees’ cases would be reviewed.

Azmat Begg, whose son Moazzam is being held in the US military base on Cuba, attacked Mr Rumsfeld for insisting the detentions marked no breach of human rights.

Mr Begg said he and a group of other campaigners planned to travel to the US to protest at the continuing imprisonment of 660 terror suspects without charge or access to lawyers.

Mr Rumsfeld announced that long-term prisoners would receive annual reviews to determine whether they should remain in custody and dismissed accusations that the detentions violated human rights.

But Mr Begg, a retired bank manager from Birmingham, told PA News he felt Mr Rumsfeld’s remarks merely added to the suffering of the prisoners and their families.

“He has no respect for human rights. It is not comforting, it is more hurting to the families of the detainees and the people who are detained,” he said.

“I don’t know what sort of gesture to human rights he is talking about.”

He said he was planning to travel to the US on March 5 to protest to the US Supreme Court over the situation.

US officials said the reviews would determine whether prisoners, if released, would remain a threat to the United States.

Many details of the reviews had not been worked out.

The composition of the reviewing panel has not been decided. The panel will make recommendations, probably to Mr Rumsfeld, who would then decide whether to release a prisoner.

Prisoners will receive some kind of assistance, but it has not been decided whether that will include lawyers or some sort of military-appointed advisers to explain the process to them.

“We need to keep in mind that the people in US custody are not there because they stole a car or robbed a bank,” Mr Rumsfeld said.

“They are enemy combatants and terrorists who are being detained for acts of war against our country and that is why different rules have to apply.”

Nine British men are among 660 people who have been held by the US for more than two years without charge or access to legal help.

They are currently being detained at Camp Delta in Cuba and interrogated over possible links to al Qaida.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have condemned their imprisonment.

news.scotsman.com
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