April 27, 2003
A senior United Nations envoy has called on the United States to take prompt action over the fate of three teenage boys being held with other terror suspects in its prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Olara Otunnu, the special representative for the rights of children in war, told BBC News that the UN expected America to fulfil its obligations under international law.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has defended the detention of the boys — aged between 13 and 15 — at Camp Delta, saying they are “enemy combatants”, captured while fighting for the Taleban or al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the boys were being held “for a very good reason — for our safety”.
“They may be juveniles — but they’re not on a Little League team anywhere,” he said at a news conference along with Mr Rumsfeld at the Pentagon on Friday.
“They’re on a major league team, and it’s a terrorist team. Some have killed. Some have stated they’re going to kill again.” …
If the teenagers were found to have been fighting as child soldiers, Mr Otunnu said, they should be demobilised, reintegrated and rehabilitated. …
“We do not sentence children to jail. We do not punish them. We give them healing and get them rehabilitated.”
One of the youths has been identified by Canadian media reports as a Canadian citizen wanted by the US over a grenade attack in Afghanistan which killed a US soldier. …
“That the US sees nothing wrong with holding children at Guantanamo and interrogating them is a shocking indicator of how cavalier the Bush administration has become about respecting human rights,” [Amnesty International] spokesman Alistair Hodgett told the Associated Press news agency.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Filed under:
Afghanistan,
Donald Rumsfeld,
Guantanamo Bay,
Youth
April 24, 2003
Children Detained at Guantanamo Should Be Released, Says Amnesty International
Amnesty International today called for the immediate release of the children in detention at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay. If the US military will not release the children, then they should be charged with a recognizable offense, provided with full judicial safeguards applying to youthful offenders, and transferred to a suitable juvenile detention facility, the organization stated. …
Most of the 600-plus detainees in Guantanamo are confined to tiny cells for virtually 24 hours a day and reportedly allowed to exercise in shackles for only 15 minutes twice a week — conditions which in their totality Amnesty International believes can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. These conditions are of concern for all detainees, but are particularly shocking when applied in the case of juveniles — some of whom may have been held there for many months, with no end in sight.
Even if the children are held in a less restrictive section of the facility, the general conditions of their detention, coupled with the denial of access to courts, families or lawyers, is in serious breach of the special protections that should be afforded to juvenile detainees. Amnesty International is particularly disturbed by reports about the interrogation of the children. …
The United States last year ratified the treaty on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which reaffirms that “the rights of children require special protection” …
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Filed under:
Cuba,
Guantanamo Bay,
Youth
You’re not going to believe this. I’m reeling in shock — although, frankly, I’m surprised anything could shock me anymore.
Children held at Camp Xray, US admits
The US military has revealed it is holding juveniles at its high-security prison for terrorists at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, known as Camp Xray.
The commander of the joint task force at Guantanamo, Major General Geoffrey Miller, says more than one child under the age of 16 is at the detention centre.
However, Maj Gen Miller has revealed little more about their welfare.
Maj Gen Miller says the US is holding “juvenile enemy combatants” at the centre, confirming rumours of children being held.
He has refused to reveal how many there are, their exact ages or their countries of origin. …
The children are still being interrogated and will continue to be held at Guantanamo. …
And think about this: If there is even one child under the age of 16 now, it means he was captured, transported to Cuba, and has been rotting in a cage at Gitmo for nearly a year and a half — or since he was between 13 and 14 years old.
I am so angry right now, I can’t even write. I’m sure it’s best I don’t even try.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
Filed under:
Cuba,
Guantanamo Bay,
Youth
