Posted on 03/27/2003 10:41:33 AM PST by Paraclete
Kuwait City
British and American soldiers are building an internment camp at a secret location inside Iraq to hold thousands of prisoners of war from Saddam Hussein's forces.
They have not disclosed the location even to the Red Cross, which has a right under international law to visit the prisoners.
About 500 soldiers from Britain's Queens Dragoon Guards are among the troops involved in building the camp in southern Iraq, close to the Kuwaiti border. It will include feeding stations, washing facilities and areas for providing medical care.
American General Tommy Franks, the officer overseeing the US-led war, said this week that coalition forces had taken about 3000 Iraqi prisoners of war. Iraq is holding at least seven Americans.
"The number of enemy prisoners of war we have taken is in line with expectations," said Major Michael Sheridan, of the US 800th Military Police Brigade.
"They are being treated purely, strictly ... by the Geneva Conventions. They are getting all the basic necessities of human dignity."
According to the conventions, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has the right to visit all prisoners of war and speak to them in private.
In the build-up to this conflict officials from the ICRC met senior officials from both Washington and Baghdad to discuss how each side would deal with POWs and provide access for Red Cross visitors.
"We don't know [where the prisoners are being held]," said Tamara Al-Rifa, a spokeswoman for the ICRC based in Kuwait.
"We have contacted the Iraqis and the coalition and we said we wanted to see the prisoners. "It was quite positive. It could be quite soon. It's not something that happens very quickly."
The United States was quick to criticise Iraq this week for showing television images of some of the American troops captured south of Baghdad.
Washington said Iraq was in breach of the conventions, which say prisoners must be spared violence and intimidation, and must be protected "against insults and public curiosity".
This was despite the fact that both British and American television channels have shown numerous images of Iraqi prisoners being marched with their hands above their heads or with their hands bound behind their backs.
It is perhaps this sensitivity that has led US and British officials to be so reluctant to provide details about the POWs - even the number they are expecting.
"That is classified information," said Major Sheridan. "That could provide information about our tactics or future tactics."
Despite numerous calls to officials in both Kuwait City and at Central Command in Qatar, no one from the British military was yesterday available to comment on the POW issue.
Initial predictions by US war planners suggested thousands of Iraqi soldiers would surrender. These estimates have not proved accurate, with even the regular Iraqi Army showing a willingness to fight that has surprised coalition officials.
The Geneva Conventions also say POWs should have adequate food, water and tobacco. They are to be housed in the same conditions available to their captors and must be released at the end of hostilities.
Rations provided to the POWs have included a two-man box containing two bottles of water, a large round box of processed cheese, canned stuffed aubergines, a carton of chocolate milk, biscuits, two tins of chicken luncheon meat, a can of orange juice, a tin of tuna steak in sunflower oil, a tub of honey and two spoons. <P
I assume our pilots during the Vietnam War were afforded such luxuries or was it the typical North Vietnamese bs?
There is that phrase again.
Calling all losers...
What is it?
Who decides?
How is it enforced?
Does it have any qualifications for having a voice in the decision?
Is "international law" sort of like a "snipe"?
Does the Red Crescent have the same authority?
Are they part and parcel of the same thing or are they entirely separate? Anybody know? Can't do a "google" right now.
The Geneva conventions are an international treaty. Signatories follow it voluntarily. Those who violate the conventions may be tried as war criminals by the victorious side after hostilities cease. Many Germans and a few Japinese were executed after WWII for Geneva Convention violations.
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