Orakel
23-08-03, 18:42
Guantanamo inmates languish
By Gordon Corera
BBC correspondent in Guantanamo Bay
The Joint Task Force annex building sits alone on a windy hilltop overlooking the sprawling Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
Sometime soon - no one knows exactly when - the now-empty building will become the focus of world attention as it hosts the first military tribunals for Guantanamo's detainees.
The Pentagon says no official decision has been made on location or timing. But the newly painted signs on the inside saying "Courtroom", "Prosecution" and "Defense" tell a different story.
Military tribunals may be held in this building
Six inmates at Camp Delta - two of them British - will be put on trial here, even though they have not yet had access to a lawyer.
As well as the detainees, American justice will also be on trial and the base is already preparing for the global media invasion that will come with the first hearings.
There have been reports that an execution chamber is being built.
The man in charge of the detainees, General Geoffrey Miller, said nothing was finalised yet.
"Guantanamo has no approved plans for an execution chamber. And so while we have plans, none have been approved," he told the BBC.
Child prisoners
Some people - deemed innocent after extensive interrogation - have been released from the camp. Some may stand trial soon. Others could just be left here to wait.
General Miller explained how the fate of each man was decided.
There is no sign of what the future holds for most prisoners
"The commander's responsibility is to make an assessment of when we have gained the valuable intelligence that the detainee has and then make an assessment of the threat the detainee poses," he said.
"Should they be transferred back to their own country, released or further detained?"
Down the road from the main prison camp sits Camp Iguana. This is where the three child prisoners - aged between 13 and 15 - are held.
The children get very different treatment from the adults - games, recreation activities and even videos. They also get a view of the ocean - something which they had never seen before, since they came from landlocked Afghanistan.
The children - or Juvenile Enemy Combatants as the Pentagon prefers to call them - have also been seen by psychiatrists and social workers and received an intense education programme to try to aid their rehabilitation.
Extensive interviews have led the US to believe they were kidnapped and coerced into fighting in Afghanistan. And so now it looks like the children may be released.
"We are very close to making a recommendation of a transfer back to their home countries," General Miller said.
bron (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3175501.stm)
Ben errug benieuwd of de nu es in actie komt of niet. Ben er niet helemaal in thuis, maar hier worden volgens mij toch al gauw zo'n 5 verdragen geschonden.
En kweet niet zo goed wat ik over dat verhaal van die kinderen moet denken. Ze brengen het heel leuk, zo met die playstation, onderwijs en uitzicht op zee. :fucyc:
By Gordon Corera
BBC correspondent in Guantanamo Bay
The Joint Task Force annex building sits alone on a windy hilltop overlooking the sprawling Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
Sometime soon - no one knows exactly when - the now-empty building will become the focus of world attention as it hosts the first military tribunals for Guantanamo's detainees.
The Pentagon says no official decision has been made on location or timing. But the newly painted signs on the inside saying "Courtroom", "Prosecution" and "Defense" tell a different story.
Military tribunals may be held in this building
Six inmates at Camp Delta - two of them British - will be put on trial here, even though they have not yet had access to a lawyer.
As well as the detainees, American justice will also be on trial and the base is already preparing for the global media invasion that will come with the first hearings.
There have been reports that an execution chamber is being built.
The man in charge of the detainees, General Geoffrey Miller, said nothing was finalised yet.
"Guantanamo has no approved plans for an execution chamber. And so while we have plans, none have been approved," he told the BBC.
Child prisoners
Some people - deemed innocent after extensive interrogation - have been released from the camp. Some may stand trial soon. Others could just be left here to wait.
General Miller explained how the fate of each man was decided.
There is no sign of what the future holds for most prisoners
"The commander's responsibility is to make an assessment of when we have gained the valuable intelligence that the detainee has and then make an assessment of the threat the detainee poses," he said.
"Should they be transferred back to their own country, released or further detained?"
Down the road from the main prison camp sits Camp Iguana. This is where the three child prisoners - aged between 13 and 15 - are held.
The children get very different treatment from the adults - games, recreation activities and even videos. They also get a view of the ocean - something which they had never seen before, since they came from landlocked Afghanistan.
The children - or Juvenile Enemy Combatants as the Pentagon prefers to call them - have also been seen by psychiatrists and social workers and received an intense education programme to try to aid their rehabilitation.
Extensive interviews have led the US to believe they were kidnapped and coerced into fighting in Afghanistan. And so now it looks like the children may be released.
"We are very close to making a recommendation of a transfer back to their home countries," General Miller said.
bron (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3175501.stm)
Ben errug benieuwd of de nu es in actie komt of niet. Ben er niet helemaal in thuis, maar hier worden volgens mij toch al gauw zo'n 5 verdragen geschonden.
En kweet niet zo goed wat ik over dat verhaal van die kinderen moet denken. Ze brengen het heel leuk, zo met die playstation, onderwijs en uitzicht op zee. :fucyc: