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Posted on 08/07/2005 12:07:07 PM PDT by dila813
Amnesty International opposes shifting Guantanomo Bay detainees to Afghanistan
KABUL, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Amnesty International, the world recognized watchdog, has strongly opposed the US decision to transfer Afghan detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison to Afghanistan, a press release of the right agency received here Saturday said.
"Guantanamo Bay detainees who are returned to Afghanistan may be at risk of torture, ill-treatment and other human right abuses, " the London-based watchdog warned in the statement.
The statement issued after the announcement of Washington to hand over some 110 Afghan detainees languishing at the notorious US Naval base detention center of Guantanamo Bay over the past three and half years on charge of alleged links with Taliban and al-Qaida networks.
US administration would also adopt similar approach with detainees from Saudi Arabia and Yemen and send them to their homeland for further trial.
The US has so far released over 200 Afghan detainees from Guantanamo Bay after prosecution and punishment, but this time would hand the prisoners over to their government for interrogation.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai in his meeting with President Bush in Washington last May suggested the hand over of all Afghan detainees to Afghan administration but the US leader rejected the request at that time.
Amnesty International in its press release also said that the US State Department Report for Afghanistan in 2004 reported that prisoners were beaten, tortured or denied adequate food in the post- war nation.
"The US should close Guantanamo and either charge the detainees under US law or release them," the statement quoted Sharon Critoph, North America researcher at Amnesty International, as saying.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will return about 110 Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo, Cuba, to Afghanistan, where the Kabul government will decide whether to detain or release them, the two countries said on Thursday.
The Pentagon said an additional 350 Afghans detained by the U.S. military at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan will be turned over after Afghan facilities are built and guards trained.
The agreement on the "gradual transfer" of Afghan prisoners, among about 510 terrorism suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, was reached after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said during a visit to Washington last spring that he wanted custody of his countrymen.
Although Washington has already handed over hundreds of Afghans captured since U.S.-led forces helped topple the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Thursday's formal agreement is expected to speed up the process for the rest.
Pierre-Richard Prosper, U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes, said the United States is also pursuing similar transfer agreements with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, whose nationals make up a significant percentage of the Guantanamo populations, The Washington Post reported in its editions on Friday.
"We're now engaging the countries with the largest populations, so we expect to see the largest potential movement from Guantanamo," Prosper said in an interview from Dubai, the newspaper said.
ONLY FOUR CHARGED
Only four of the hundreds of prisoners held at Guantanamo have been charged with crimes. Most were swept up during the fighting in Afghanistan and held for three years, sparking major complaints by human rights groups and charges from former prisoners that they were tortured.
"The government of Afghanistan will accept responsibility for the returning Afghan citizens and will work to ensure that they do not pose a continuing threat to Afghanistan, the coalition, or the international community as a whole," the Pentagon statement said.
U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan and overthrew Taliban's radical Islamic government after its leaders refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Since then, U.S. troops have detained hundreds of suspected Taliban and al Qaeda members, both in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo. The U.S. military has already released nearly 300 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held in Afghanistan this year.
The announcement did not provide numbers, but Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said about 110 detainees would be sent from Guantanamo and another 350 transferred from the U.S. facility at Bagram over an extended period.
"The disposition of the detainees will be the decision of the Afghan government," the spokesman said when pressed on whether Kabul intended to hold or release them.
"As part of the agreement, the government of Afghanistan will take all the necessary steps that are appropriate under Afghan law and international obligations to prevent these individuals from engaging or facilitating in terrorist activities," Whitman added.
The Pentagon has previously released small groups of prisoners from Guantanamo to their home countries over an extended period.
In Afghanistan, some of those freed have rejoined the Taliban-led insurgency against Karzai's government and foreign forces in Afghanistan, Afghan and U.S. officials have said. (Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul)
Source: REUTERS
There's just no pleasing some people.
Well then, shouldn't AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL be focusing it's efforts on the abuses by the Afghans and Iranians, and Pakastanis...et al?
Bill Sammons had an interesting take on the whole thing. Well now they will not be getting their glazed chicken and rice.
Damned if you do, Damned if you don't.
Maybe we should have just shot these guys and put them out of their misery in the first place.
"Do you want something to really cry about?"
But, but, according to the liberal peaceniks, Sadam loving crowd, Guantanamo is the worst prison in the world. Just ask Ted Kenedy. Isn't he currently demanding that Bush close Guantanamo?
Well, I guess that we are just suppose to be kind and release them back into society to terrorize the world once more.
Send the detainees to Israel.
Next thing you know, the Democrats will be screaming we have to keep it open to protect the rights of the terrorists.
Do these people EVER think about consequences?
LOL!! Good one!
Hey Amnesty International get a grip, your approval is not needed.
Send them to Gaza
I'll bet is seriously pains AI to have to obliquely admit
that Club Gitmo is a kinder and gentler place.
AI, unfortunately, is a formerly well-intentioned
organization that has been fully hijacked by the left,
and is now just another generic anti-American
anti-liberty tool whose campaigns actually encourage
and reward precisely what they pretend to oppose.
International law and the law of warfare requies that anyone accorded protection under the several conventions be repatriated to their home country after hostilies cease or if they are not proper POWs. The AIM group insisted on treament under the Geneva Accords, thus compliance with them mandates the detainees return as reported. There is no authority or duty for the detaining power to find them a safe haven where they will be treated differently than the country of origin.
How can Gitmo be the Gulag of our time if there's someplace even worse to send them to?
Amnesty folks lied and basically admitted it--the director said on FOX that by saying that they got air time. Lies have consequences, commies, live with the consequences of yours.
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