Red Cross slams US over Guantanamo prisoners

A top official with the International Committee of the Red Cross said today it was “unacceptable” for the United States to hold terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay without charges or trial.

Director-general Angelo Gnaedinger said in Copenhagen it was imperative that the detainees should be told “on what judicial ground” they are being held.

About 660 prisoners, many captured after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, are being held at the US Navy base in eastern Cuba, without charges or trial.

US authorities claim the prisoners have provided valuable intelligence in the battle against terrorism.

“We find it unacceptable that they are currently detained indefinitely,” said Gnaedinger who was in Copenhagen to meet Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller and Danish lawmakers.

Nine Britons are among the prisoners at the camp.

On Tuesday, British judge Lord Steyn harshly criticised the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay without charges or access to lawyers.

“The purpose of holding the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was and is to put them beyond the rule of law, beyond the protection of any courts and at the mercy of victors,” Steyn said. He also called it “a monstrous failure of justice.”

US authorities say the prisoners are questioned for information on any future terrorist attacks.

Releases are possible for those whom officials decide will not be prosecuted, those no longer considered a threat and those no longer useful for intelligence.