US admits to holding teenage terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay
The teenagers are kept in cells separate from the adult detainees but also are considered enemy combatants, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, chief spokesman for the mission, said.
He would not say how many teenagers are being held, only that they are “very few, a very small number,” nor would he say how old the youngest prisoner is.
All the teenagers were “captured as active combatants against US forces” and were brought to Guantanamo after January 1, he said.
Johnson confirmed their presence following a report by Australia’s ABC television that youths were being held at the camp.
Officials determined the detainees were younger than 16 during medical and other screenings after their arrival, Johnson said.
Roughly 660 detainees from 42 countries are being held at Guantanamo on suspicion of links to al-Qaida terrorist network or Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime. They have not been charged and are not allowed access to lawyers.
Human Rights Watch said the youths’ situation exacerbates concerns about the indefinite detention of the detainees.
The fact children are being held “reflects our broader concerns that the US never properly determined the legal status of those held in the conflict,” said James Ross, legal adviser for Human Rights Watch in New York.
Holding “captured children ... obviously makes the problem worse.”
Johnson indicated the teenagers are being interrogated, saying “they have potential to provide important information.”
Lawyers have blamed the indefinite detentions for depression suffered by some detainees, and an increase in suicide attempts at the camp.
Johnson reported a repeat attempt at suicide earlier this week by a detainee under close supervision in the acute care unit of a new mental health ward.
That brings the number of suicide attempts to 25 by 17 individuals, 15 attempts being made this year, said the military.
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