US abuse could be war crimes

[kskiska]

Red Cross says Tipton Three may have a case

Repeated abuses allegedly suffered by three British prisoners at the hands of US interrogators and guards in the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba could amount to war crimes, the Red Cross said yesterday.

The organisation, which maintains a rigidly neutral stance in public, took the unusual step of voicing its concerns in uncompromising language after the former detainees, known as the Tipton Three, revealed that they had been beaten, shackled, photographed naked and in one incident questioned at gunpoint while in US custody.

Their vivid account of the harrowing conditions at the camp, as told to their lawyers and published for the first time in yesterday's Guardian, has reignited the debate about the treatment of prisoners and the British government's role in their questioning and detention.

Last night the Red Cross was joined by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, which argued that if the allegations were true they indicated systematic abuse, amounting to torture.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1276441,00.html

[bluestateguy]

1. That'll be the day

The day any American ever actuallt stands trial before and international tribunal for war crimes is the day the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

[NYC]

2. Go, Cubs!

[Minstrel Boy]

4. Standard issue to all military personnel:

[saigon68]

6. How true---Dozens of Military Thugs are getting away with murder

The military appeals to certain Thugs, Bums and Bullies

[cal04]

3. Not if Blair is in office

FO denies ignoring complaints
The Government has denied ignoring complaints by three British former Guantanamo Bay detainees who claim they were beaten and abused at the prison camp. The Foreign Office said it had asked the United States to examine allegations made by Asif Iqbal, 22, Rhuhel Ahmed, 22, and Shafiq Rasul, 27, in a 115-page dossier.


But it added that the men never complained to British officials that they were "systematically abused" at the US detention centre on Cuba.
The Foreign Office said further talks would be held between Britain and America about the conditions of Britons still held at Guantanamo Bay. "At our request, the United States is examining the allegations in detail and intends to respond to them fully," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

A spokesman said talks would be held between British officials, the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House. The three men, from Tipton in the West Midlands, alleged in the dossier that they were beaten, stripped, shackled and deprived of sleep during their detention.

In one interrogation, in Afghanistan, one of the men said he had a gun held to his head as he was questioned by a soldier who identified himself as being from the SAS. The three Britons said they were told by another Guantanamo inmate that he had been shown a video of hooded men - apparently detainees - being forced to sodomise one another.
The inmate said he was told he would be forced to do the same unless he complied with interrogators.

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/PA_NEWUSGuantanamowe21guatpriso?source=

[struggle4progress]

5. kick

:kick:

[lottie244]

7. Not "could be" "should be"

And the trial should be held in world view.

[leftchick]

8. Any sign of this in the US media?

I didn't think so.

[0007]

9. What is it with our media?

Are they all scared of junior and his thugs?

[Disturbed]

10. War Crimes

What is a war crime?
By Tarik Kafala
BBC News Online


Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines war crimes as: "Willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including... willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power, or willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, ...taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."


This, international lawyers say, is the basic definition of war crimes.

The statutes of The Hague tribunal say the court has the right to try suspects alleged to have violated the laws or customs of war in the former Yugoslavia since 1992. Examples of such violations are given in article 3:

* Wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity
* Attack, or bombardment, by whatever means, of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings
* Seizure of, destruction or willful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences, historic monuments and works of art and science
* Plunder of public or private property.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1420133.stm

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. kick

because the Red Cross says things so rarely that it should be taken very seriously when it does.