Indefinitely Indefinite?
The United States says it has the right to indefinitely detain foreign suspects without charges or trial as long as the war against terror continues, Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington
Facing increasing criticism both at home and abroad over the continued detention of suspected Al-Qa'eda and Taliban members at the Camp Delta prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, United States officials announced last week that they were reviewing the cases of the estimated 650 detainees and that they expected to begin sending some suspects back to their home countries in the coming weeks.
According to the announcement, only a hardcore group of suspects whom the United States considers to be a significant threat would remain at Guantanamo, where they could possibly face a military trial.
Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper, director of the Office of War Crime Issues at the US State Department, said the US was now "moving into a phase which will allow us to send a significant number of detainees back to their home country, provided adequate understanding is reached with these countries". Suspects returned to their countries could be released, detained for further interrogation, or stand trial.
Moving quickly, US officials announced last Friday that they will release five British nationals and one Danish citizen held in Guantanamo "in the next few weeks". British authorities said they were considering whether any of the five will face trial on terrorism charges, adding that they would continue negotiating with Washington over the fate of four more Britons still being detained.
Asked whether the United States opposed handing over suspects to countries where they might face capital punishment, Prosper said, "we don't take a position on that with countries." Prosper pointed out, however, that of the 92 Camp Delta detainees already released to their home countries, 86 were subsequently released.
Shortly after ousting the Taliban regime in Afghanistan November, 2001, the United States began its practice of transferring suspected Taliban soldiers and Al-Qa'eda members to a hastily prepared prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Seeking to bar suspects from even the most basic legal rights guaranteed under US laws, such as the right to be charged with a crime and the right to consult with a lawyer, detainees were taken to Guantanamo, an island which the United States rented from Cuba 100 years ago. US officials argued that since the island was not technically part of US territory, the detainees, dubbed as "enemy combatants", were not under the jurisdiction of US laws and safeguards.
That rationale was challenged by several major local human rights groups and families of the detainees, many of whom come from Arab and Muslim countries. After several failed attempts, the US Supreme Court finally agreed late last year to consider a motion filed by lawyers representing Kuwaiti detainees at the camp requesting access to their clients and information about what their clients were being charged with.
Britain, Australia, Canada and Spain have also been involved in negotiations with the United States over how to best solve the cases of their nationals. At least two suspects at the camp were allowed to consult with lawyers, and six others are now slated to stand trial in a military tribunal sometime this year. The Pentagon has yet to confirm a starting date for the tribunal, but last week journalists received application forms for the press credentials needed to cover the tribunal when it does finally get underway.
Since the camp was opened two years ago, the United States has been tightlipped over the exact number and nationalities of the detainees. While the majority of the captives were arrested in Afghanistan, others were also reportedly detained in the former Yugoslavia and Africa.
Speaking to reporters last week Ambassador Prosper said that the United States has invited countries who have nationals being detained at Guantanamo to travel to the base and help with the interrogation.
"Most countries are fully aware of the names of their nationals held there, and we are working in close cooperation with those countries," he said.
A unofficial list recently compiled by United Press International (UPI) outlining the nationalities of detainees at Guantanamo ventured that Saudi Arabia had the most detainees with 160 nationals, followed by Yemen at 85, Pakistan at 82, Afghanistan at 80, and Egypt and Jordan with 30 each. Defence sources quoted by UPI said one reason US authorities were reluctant to issue an official list of the nationalities of detainees was to avoid causing further diplomatic embarrassment to close allies such as Saudi Arabia.
Pressed by Al-Ahram Weekly to confirm whether 30 Egyptians were in fact being detained at Guantanamo, Prosper said he did not know the exact figure but said "30 is high. The number is less than that. It is less than 10."
While unable to confirm the exact number, Prosper did tell the Weekly that Egyptian security officials visited the Egyptians held in Guantanamo and that Egyptian detainees had also met with representatives of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).
Officials from the ICRC who visited the camp reported that the detainees were treated humanely, but voiced concern that not knowing what they were being charged with and what would happen to them, coupled with their extended stay was leading to severe depression and suicide attempts among some inmates. While Prosper admitted there had indeed been suicide attempts at Guantanamo, he offered a different rationale for their cause.
"An important point to underscore is that these are individuals who were prepared to commit suicide even prior to their arrival in Guantanamo. That's the nature of their activity," he said, adding that "many of them were suicidal to begin with."
Prosper also defended what he claimed was the United States' right to detain suspects in Guantanamo indefinitely without charges or trial. He said that the Geneva Convention allowed countries involved in war to hold captives without trial over the course of hostilities.
"As long as there are hostilities, we have the legal authority under the laws of war, which include the [Geneva Convention], to hold them in custody," he said, though he was unable to provide the exact articles in the Geneva Convention that allowed for the detention of suspects without trial.
