....in as much as the ICRC NEVER releases the findings of their visits to prison facilities no matter how horrible the conditions they encounter.
In the case of Gitmo they, for the first time ever, felt they had to issue a public condemnation of the way the US was holding prisoners, albeit in the nicest possible of terms. :evilfrown:
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/intllaw/020118detainees.htmlICRC Visits Afghan Detainees in CubaJanuary 18, 2002 - Fulfilling its traditional role in times of conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ensuring that U.S. detainees from Afghanistan receive fair treatment under International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
The Geneva-based ICRC has a unique role in upholding the principles of IHL. "It is part of the ICRC's responsibility and a legal mandate under the Geneva Conventions to provide protection and assistance to all prisoners of war and detainees held in war zones," said Lucy Brown, an American Red Cross advisor on IHL. "The ICRC is often the only one with access to these people and the humanitarian service is widely supported by governments because it protects their own captured people."
<Snip>
After surveying a prison,
the ICRC's findings always remain confidential, Gordon-Bates said. If a country holding detainees were to fear that the ICRC would degrade it before the world, the organization could lose its credibility as a neutral party. "We want to ensure we have access to people in prisons around the world," Gordon-Bates said.
<More>http://hrw.org/reports/2004/afghanistan0304/"Enduring Freedom": Abuses by U.S. Forces in AfghanistanHuman Rights Watch Reports on U.S. Military ActionsHuman Rights in Afghanistan 1.
Summary 2.
Background: "Operation Enduring Freedom" 3.
Violations by U.S. Forces Indiscriminate and Excessive Force Used During Arrests Arbitrary or Mistaken Arrests and Indefinite Detention Mistreatment in Detention Bagram airbase Mistreatment in other facilities Detainees held by Afghan forces Deaths in U.S. custody 4.
International Legal Context 5.
Conclusions 6.
Recommendations Appendix: U.S. Criticisms of Mistreatment and Torture Practices AcknowledgmentsMarch 2004 Vol. 16, No. 3(C)
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/02/24/usdom7585.htmU.S.: Pentagon Denies Access to Guantanamo TrialsHuman Rights Groups Shut Out of Military Commissions(Washington, February 24, 2004) -- The Pentagon has refused to allow three leading human rights groups to attend and observe military commission trials of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
In a
letter sent last week to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Amnesty International, Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) and Human Rights Watch protested their exclusion from the proceedings and urged the U.S. government to rethink its position.
Despite the Bush administration's promise that the commissions would be open to the public, the Pentagon has refused to grant any of these organizations permission to attend the proceedings. Over the last month, the Department of Defense has responded to written requests from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, with a brief statement that it intended only to provide seating for select members of the press and for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
"The Defense Department wants to control who can talk to the journalists covering the trials," said Wendy Patten, U.S. advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "The Pentagon has imposed a gag rule on defense lawyers, who can only speak to the press with the military’s permission. Now it wants to shut out experienced trial observers who could provide the public with independent analysis."
<More> http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/10/attack/main577496.shtmlTreatment Of Detainees DenouncedGENEVA, Oct. 10, 2003 (AP) The International Committee for the Red Cross reiterated its criticism of Washington on Friday for ignoring repeated appeals to give legal rights to U.S. military detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
ICRC officials, after a visit to the military base, said many detainees were suffering "a worrying deterioration" in mental health because they are held without charges and without legal counsel.
<Snip>
International rights groups say the indefinite detentions without charge, which have led to 32 suicide attempts by 27 detainees, are inhumane.
An AP reporter in Guantanamo had arranged to meet with the ICRC at the base on Wednesday, but U.S. military officials refused to allow the interview, saying permission had not been granted by the Department of Defense.
<Snip>
The neutral, Swiss-run organization has been appealing in private to the Bush administration for due process since soon after the detention center was opened in early 2002, the spokesman noted.
In an unusual move, ICRC went public with that appeal in May its president, Jakob Kellenberger, met with top officials of the Bush administration in Washington.
<More>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3179858.stmRed Cross blasts GuantanamoWednesday Oct. 8, 2003 A top Red Cross official has broken with tradition by publicly attacking conditions at the US military base on Cuba where al-Qaeda suspects are being held.
Christophe Girod - the senior Red Cross official in Washington - said it was unacceptable that the 600 detainees should be held indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay without legal safeguards.
The Red Cross is the only organisation with access to the detainees.
His criticism came as a group of American former judges, diplomats and military officers called on the US Supreme Court to examine the legality of holding the foreign nationals for almost two years, without trial, charge or access to lawyers.
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