Red Cross Fears U.S. Is Hiding Detainees

[GreenPartyVoter]

GENEVA (AP) - The international Red Cross said Tuesday that it fears U.S. officials are holding terror suspects secretly in locations across the world.

The Geneva Conventions on the conduct of warfare require the United States to give the Red Cross access to prisoners of war and other detainees.

"We have access to people detained by the United States in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq, but in our understanding there are people that are detained outside these places for which we haven't received notification or access," said Antonella Notari, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The United States says it is cooperating with the organization and has allowed Red Cross delegates access to thousands of prisoners, including former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20040713/D83PT03O2.html?PG=home&SEC=news

[Soloflecks]

1. No wonder they're suspicious.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-prison9jul09.story

Proposal to keep some prisoners 'off the books' went against promises for yearly case reviews.
By John Hendren and Mark Mazzetti
Times Staff Writers July 9, 2004

WASHINGTON — Despite pledging yearly reviews for all prisoners held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,Pentagon officials tentatively agreed during a high-level meeting last month to deny that process to some detainees and to keep their existence secret "for intelligence reasons," senior defense officials said Thursday.

Under the proposal, some prisoners would in effect be kept off public records and away from the scrutiny of lawyers and judges.

The meeting on the Guantanamo reviews occurred months after U.S. officials came under harsh criticism by investigators and human rights observers for practices involving "ghost" detainees in Iraq who were kept hidden from inspectors for intelligence purposes.

It was unclear Thursday whether the Pentagon had followed through with the proposal, or how it would be affected by last month's Supreme Court ruling that granted detainees access to American courts. It also was not clear how many detainees the proposal would apply to. The Pentagon said there currently were 594 detainees at the camp, nicknamed "Gitmo."

[NJCher]

2. another one to mail to mom

I had a conversation with my republican mother last week and tried to tell her these things. I don't know whether she was upset with me, the messenger, or the content of the message. All I know is she kept saying, "This is making me sick. This is making me sick."

FWIW, she lives in Nebraska. They don't get any news about things like this. Their views are almost totally and completely shaped by r-w media.


Cher

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Some people can't deal with it, so into the sand go their heads.

I know lots of folks, and not even RWers, who are like that about politics.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. We can expect "The Pentagon will investigate all allegations.."

And it will disappear for about 40 years.