HAVANA - Cuba on Wednesday accused the United States of lying about its treatment of inmates at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, claiming torture and cruelty occur daily at the prison camp for terror suspects.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that it sent a letter to the U.S. government urging authorities to immediately stop the alleged abuse at the camp, which sits on Cuba's easternmost tip.
Cuba said the United States has been lying to hide "the horrendous torture, cruelty and humiliating and insulting treatment of prisoners" that are all part of the abuse "the U.S. government commits every day."
The U.S. State Department dismissed the charges, caying it was ironic that such criticisms were coming from "the biggest, and most closed, human rights violator in the hemisphere."
It denied that human rights violations are occurring at Guantanamo but stopped short of saying none had occurred previously.
Accusations of mistreatment are investigated and, when confirmed, those responsible have been held accountable, the department said, adding that Guantanamo detainees are regularly visited by Red Cross officials.
The U.S. administration began sending terrorism suspects to Guantanamo Bay in January 2002. About 550 detainees from nearly 40 countries are being held there, accused of links to Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terror network.
Documents published last month show FBI (news - web sites) agents warned the government about abuse and mistreatment when the first prisoners arrived in Cuba.
The military, which has ordered an independent investigation, insists most cases detailed by the FBI are old and that many questionable interrogation techniques no longer are used.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed the cases of seven Guantanamo Bay prisoners who sought to challenge the lawfulness of their continued detention.
"To the extent that these non-resident detainees have rights, they are subject to both the military review process already in place and the laws Congress has passed defining the appropriate scope of military conduct toward the detainees," U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said.
"The extent to which these rights and conditions should be modified or extended is a matter for the political branches to determine," he wrote in the 34-page opinion.
Until the Congress or President Bush acts further, he concluded there is "no viable legal theory" under which a federal court could issue the writ of habeas corpus sought by the detainees.
Leon said foreign nationals captured and detained outside the United States have no recognizable constitutional rights.
About 550 people are being held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, after being detained during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and in other operations in the U.S. "war against terrorism."
Bush administration attorneys have argued the prisoners have no constitutional rights and their lawsuits, challenging the conditions of their confinement and seeking their release, must be dismissed.
Cases have been brought in federal court in Washington by more than 60 Guantanamo prisoners. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the prisoners could bring the cases.
Although Leon, who was appointed to the bench by Bush, dismissed the cases before him, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green is deciding whether the cases of 10 other Guantanamo prisoners can go forward.
The lawyers for the 10 detainees have argued that they have the right to a fair trial and should be given the proper opportunity to defend themselves.
Leon's ruling involved one French national, an Algerian and five Algerian-Bosnian citizens.
"In the final analysis, the petitioners are asking this court to do something no federal court has done before: evaluate the legality of the executive's capture and detention of non-resident aliens, outside the United States, during a time of armed conflict," he said.
"O God of Earth and Altar, Bow down and hear our cry, Our earthly rulers falter, Our people drift and die, The walls of gold entomb us, The swords of scorn divide, Take not thy thunder from us, But take away our pride." (G. K. Chesterton; English Hymnal)
Posts: 60 | Location: Finland | Registered: November 24, 2003
It would surprise me if we were any better when it came to treatment of prisnors we needed information from. I do believe we treat prisnors as a whole better then most.
Everyone is a @#%$& you just have to find the ones you can get along with.
Posts: 315 | Location: Saint Clair Shores Michigan/Little Current On | Registered: July 17, 2002
Quote,Cigarlad, ------------------------------------------- "I do believe we treat prisnors as a whole better then most" ------------------------------------------- Yeah , your piramids are limited to 4 high.LOL
Non illegitimus carborundum
Posts: 2995 | Location: Welland | Registered: August 21, 2002
"The extent to which these rights and conditions should be modified or extended is a matter for the political branches to determine," he wrote in the 34-page opinion."
Where did this clown come from? A federal judge who understands the scope of his powers? He must be a relic from the Constitutional days of America.
Mike
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. John Stuart Mill
Posts: 5955 | Location: Cincinnati | Registered: May 02, 2002
Most of the prisoners that have been relieced so far have gone back to causing problems to our military. If it were possable it would be nice to somehow insert a tracking device in their bodies and let them all go. A month or so later we drop a "smart" bomb on their location. I bet terrorist activities would be greatly reduced.
*********************** "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Anonymous
