US Military To Limit Media Access To Guantanamo Bay Prison [View all]

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dec 17, 6:21 PM EST
BY BEN FOX
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI (AP) -- New limits are being imposed on media access to the detention center at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the commander of the military's Southern Command said Thursday, outlining rules that will limit what journalists can see and how often they can visit the already highly restricted site.

Journalists will be allowed to visit the center on tours that will be organized once per quarter, lasting no more than a day, and they will no longer be able to visit inside the two detention center camps where a majority of the 107 current prisoners are held, Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Kelly said the main reason for the change was that media tours were straining the detention center staff, which has been dealing with an increasing number of visits by members of Congress and foreign delegations from countries where prisoners may be resettled as part of an effort to reduce the prison population.

"We really did have to get some organization to what was going on down there," said the general, whose tenure overseeing U.S. military operations throughout the Southern Hemisphere will come to an end Jan. 14.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_GUANTANAMO_MEDIA_ACCESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-17-18-21-38