POLICE STATE U.S.A.: CHILDREN ARE HELD IN GUANTANAMO

Are children held at Guantanamo?

Yes, four children, the youngest aged 13, are held in Camp Iguana, a
separate youth facility. The US government considers the boys to be
"enemy combatants".

http://images.indymedia.org/imc/mayday/gitmo.jpg

Guantanamo Bay

The US use of Guantanamo Bay, on Cuba, as a prison for suspected
Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists has been the cause of much
controversy. Sarah Left explains

Monday August 4, 2003

Who is being detained in Guantanamo Bay?

The US have imprisoned 680 men, including nine Britons and two British
residents. Around 40 have been released from the camp since the first
prisoners began arriving there in January 2002.
Most of the prisoners are from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that the
prisoners come from 40 nations and speak 17 different languages.

Why are they being held prisoner?

The US believes that the inmates, who were arrested during and after
the war in Afghanistan, are terrorists. They are suspected of fighting
for the Taliban or being operatives for al-Qaida.

The US intends to try the men before military tribunals.

Who are the Britons being held at Guantanamo?

Moazzam Begg, 35, and Feroz Abbasi, 23, will be among the first six
people to face a US military tribunal.

· The other Britons at Guantanamo are:
Rhuhel Ahmed, 20, a student from Tipton
Asif Iqbal, 20, a student from Tipton
Shafiq Rasul, 25, an IT worker from Tipton
Richard Belmar, 24, from London
Tarek Dergoul, 25, a care worker from London
Martin Mubanga, 29, a motorcycle courier from Wembley
Jamal Udeen, 36, a school administrator from Manchester

What is the legal status of the prisoners?

As the US has refused to comply with international law, the men have
been denied their legal rights under the Geneva Convention. The US has
insisted that the men are not prisoners of war. It says that they have
been treated humanely, in line with the Geneva Convention.

As long as the prisoners never touch US soil - and US courts do not
consider the Cuban base to be part of the US - they are also denied
the rights guaranteed to criminals under the US constitution, such as
a presumption of innocence and a trial by jury.

Prisoners are to be tried by military tribunal, with even defence
lawyers appointed by Washington. Sentences could include the death
penalty.

US officials have subjected the prisoners to interrogation, as only
prisoners of war protected by the Geneva Convention are entitled to
give no more information than name, rank and serial number.

Have the men been charged with a crime?

No. They can be detained for as long as the US government sees fit,
without charge or trial.

What concessions have the UK government won for British prisoners?

An exemption from the death penalty is the only hard and fast
concession won by the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith. In addition,
subject to conditions, British prisoners could:


· have access to British civilian lawyers acting as defence team
consultants
· choose the extent of their assigned military lawyer's participation
· if convicted, serve their sentences in Britain

What is at Guantanamo Bay?
The area is a major naval base for the US, housing 3,000 military
service members, civilians and their families.

The prisoners are being held in a hastily-constructed high security
prison called Camp Delta. The area was formerly known as Camp X-Ray,
originally constructed to hold Haitian refugees in the 1990s.

What is Camp Delta like for the prisoners?

Prisoners are held in four camps, in small, mesh-sided cells, for up
to 24 hours a day. Cellblocks are made up of 48 cells. There is little
privacy, and lights are kept on day and night.

Inmates are allowed half an hour of exercise between three and seven
days each week in a caged recreation yard measuring 7.6 metres by 9.1
metres.

The ICRC visits prisoners, and facilitates the exchange of letters
between inmates and their families. US officials look over the
contents of all correspondence with families, who are not allowed to
visit.

Journalists have not been allowed access to the prisoners. In June,
Camp Delta officials ended a BBC tour of the camp after one inmate
attempted to speak to journalists.

Are children held at Guantanamo?

Yes, four children, the youngest aged 13, are held in Camp Iguana, a
separate youth facility. The US government considers the boys to be
"enemy combatants".

Why does the US have a naval base on Cuba?
The base dates back to a treaty, signed in 1903 and renewed in 1934,
which leases the Guantanamo Bay site to the US for $4,085 per year.

The treaty requires the consent of both governments to revoke or
change it and, unsurprisingly, the US will not agree to that. In
protest, Cuba has refused to accept the rent payments.

What do Cubans have to say about the prisoners being held on their
island?
Uncharacteristically, the Cuban president, Fidel Castro, has kept his
counsel on the matter. Officially, the government has said that it
will cooperate with the plan to hold and try suspected terrorists at
Guantanamo Bay, and has even offered to improve sanitation and
services there. [Gee golly whiz
can't can't imagine why the governmetn of Cuba which
has been subjected to every threat, embargo, and economic
strangulation, might not dare make more than a peep against
a violent, World's Policeman Rogue-State-USA regime in Washington -ED]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theissues/article/0,6512,1012005,00.html

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