(Reuters) Guantanamo fails to meet basic British standards: lawmakers

[Eugene]

Guantanamo fails to meet basic British standards: lawmakers

Reuters
Saturday, January 20, 2007; 7:13 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. detention center in Guantanamo fails to meet even basic
British standards for prisoners, British lawmakers who visited the base said on Sunday.

A cross-party parliamentary committee also said a new U.S. military commissions system,
expected to start trying terrorism suspects this year, gave cause for concern and London
should raise any human rights misgivings with Washington.

Guantanamo "fails to achieve minimum United Kingdom standards on access to exercise and
recreation, to lawyers, and to the outside world through educational facilities and the
media," the Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report.

Lawmakers on the committee visited the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in
September last year.

"We conclude that abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay has almost certainly taken place
in the past, but we believe it is unlikely to be taking place now," the report added.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/20/AR2007012001131.html

(The Independent)

20 January 2007 21:37

Guantanamo Bay must be closed, PM is told
By Sophie Goodchild, Chief Reporter
Published: 21 January 2007

Tony Blair must work with the US to find alternatives to the notorious Guantanamo Bay
so that the detention camp can be closed, says a report published today by an influential
committee of MPs.

The report says the camp used to house terror suspects fails to achieve minimum British
standards on access to exercise, recreation, legal support and to the outside world.

However, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, whose findings are based on a visit in
September last year, refutes claims by campaigners that detainees are being abused,
although their report concludes that abuse has "almost certainly" taken place in the past.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2171672.ece

Also: Guantanamo better, but not up to scratch: British MPs - ABC Online (Australia)

[LynnTheDem]

1. America's torture gulag fails to meet any 1st nation's standards

That's what The New America is all about.

[rodeodance]

2. whow ho-----nice headline--what a blow to

[struggle4progress]

3. U.K. Panel Seeks Guantanamo Alternative

Sunday January 21, 2007 6:16 AM
By DAVID STRINGER
Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP) - A panel of British lawmakers urged the government Sunday to work with the United States to develop an alternative to holding terror suspects at Guantanamo - aiming to speed up the closure of the much-criticized U.S. military prison.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee released a report that also called for an overhaul of the Geneva Conventions and suggesting Prime Minister Tony Blair lead efforts to update the international standards to reflect the challenge of terrorism.

``The international community as a whole needs to shoulder its responsibility in finding a longer-term solution'' to the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo.

``We recommend that the government engage actively with the U.S. administration and with the international community to assist the process of closing Guantanamo as soon as may be consistent with the overriding need to protect the public from terrorist threats,'' the report said ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6360526,00.html