Posted on 05/27/2005 8:05:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The general responsible for the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said on Friday Amnesty International's "shrill" criticism of the detention of foreign terrorism suspects was uninformed.
U.S. Army Gen. John Craddock, head of Miami-based Southern Command, added that he did not expect a military inquiry into whether U.S. personnel at the jail had mishandled the Koran would show more than the five cases acknowledged on Thursday.
In its annual report on human rights worldwide, Amnesty International said the detention facility had become "the gulag of our times," equating it to the vast, brutal Soviet system of forced labor camps in which millions of prisoners died.
"I think that's a shrill assessment. They probably exaggerated for emphasis. I don't want to speak for them, but I do not share that at all. I think that's an uninformed view," Craddock said.
The United States holds about 520 detainees at Guantanamo, most caught in Afghanistan, and has classified them as "enemy combatants" not entitled to rights accorded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.
Craddock, who as head of the Southern Command oversees the Guantanamo base, spoke to reporters after addressing the Council of the Americas, a lobbying group that promotes free trade.
KORAN ABUSE PROTESTS
Muslims in several countries on Friday staged anti-American protests that were triggered by reports of desecration of the Islamic holy book by U.S. interrogators at the Guantanamo prison.
On Thursday, the commander of the Guantanamo prison, Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, said the inquiry had turned up five cases of "mishandling of a Koran" by U.S. personnel, but found no credible evidence the Muslim holy book had been flushed down a toilet as reported in the May 9 issue of Newsweek magazine.
Craddock said of the inquiry: "It's almost complete, regarding allegations that the Koran was flushed down the toilet. I think he (Hood) has to do one or two more things and he'll close that inquiry up."
"I don't expect to see anything more than probably what was announced yesterday."
The news magazine has since said it could not substantiate the report that an internal military probe found Koran abuse.
Craddock said another probe launched into accounts contained in FBI e-mails of abuses of Guantanamo detainees was also nearly complete.
The FBI documents have described suspects being shackled hand and foot in a fetal position on a floor for 18 to 24 hours, and left to urinate and defecate on themselves. Another said Defense Department personnel used "torture techniques."
Craddock said he has received a draft report on the investigation, and additional documents are being examined. "It's in the final throes now and we should be seeing something in the next few weeks so I can finalize that."
Craddock said many of the disputes over the rights and treatment of Guantanamo prisoners would be settled by U.S. courts. The Supreme Court ruled in June 2004 that detainees had the right to go to U.S. courts to seek their freedom.
"It may well be when it's said and done that the detainees in Guantanamo have the same rights as would be accorded detainees in the continental United States. Or they may decide the other way."
Same rights as US citizens? What the hell is going on?
of course the lib media will take the terrorists words and run with it.
Have they been to North Korea lately? They can see real Soviet style gulags. Or Burma?
The gulag of our times. Good grief! Have they gone insane?
Have they gone insane?
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When were they ever sane? ;-)
Just what part of The Constitution says that enemies of the United States have the same rights as American citizens?
If this isn't a judicial power grab of Executive authority what is?
When will we get a President that will tell these black robed elitists to get lost?
Amnesty Int'l is a leftist anti-war organization to begin with. They can not be anti-Iraqi War and at the same time be pro-US military in the issue of imprisonment of enemy combatants.
No, the General did not say that. What he said was that the gitmo detainees may have the same rights as anyone else detained by the US, regardless of their citizenship status. Us citizenship accords you the right to vote in US elections, the rigth to enter and remain in the country, the right to hold certain elected offices--and that's about all.
The US Constitution grants certain rights to citizens (e.g., the right to vote in US elections,) and recognizes a much larger list of inalienable rights that all human persons possess intrinsically (e.g, the rights to life, liberty and due process of law.)
So, by using this interpretation our Supreme Court can freely extend American constitutional rights to every human being in any country?
Although I agree with the concept of inalienable rights, I doubt that the Framers thoughts were for any country other than the US. If the judiciary can extend our constitutional rights to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba why not other countries in Europe, Asia, or South America?
If that should happen then we'd be looking at a court with international aspirations. That would be the ultimate in American judicial activism, and a usurpation of constitutional powers beyond imagination.
I was actually surprised how well the General did in the press conference. He took every accusation and basically laid out the truth. He readily admitted that there had been a couple of cases where young troops did the wrong thing in handling prisoners and that was fixed.
I think the entire military (all four services)...need use what little training time they have free...and simply talk about the implications of doing something stupid. Not only does the General have to stand in front of the media to explain why Sgt Jones did something stupid...but Sgt Jones may face serious disciplinary issues when it really wasn't necessary.
All I can say is that the first reports out of Gitmo were that Islamic detainees were doing a SILENCE OF THE LAMBS on the female US soldiers there from their open prison cages -- "self-abuse" to try to upset the American women there. Real "holy" men, these terrorists.
Someone should find out who is currently funding Amnesty -- I think it is UN funds -- to expose their insanity.
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