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Afghans who have been released from US
detention at Guantanamao Bay in Cuba, pray during a ceremony in Kabul.
Sixteen Afghans held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for four years were
released as free men, alleging they had suffered mental torture at the
hands of their US military jailors.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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>>> | LONDON,
Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on Thursday
lashed out at the U.S. regarding its detention center at Guantanamo Bay, saying
the prison camp was "unacceptable in terms of human rights."
"The continuing detention without fair trial of
prisoners is unacceptable in terms of human rights. But it is also ineffective
in terms of counter-terrorism," Beckett said at the launch of Britain's annual
report on human rights around the world.
"It's widely argued now that the existence of the
camp is as much a radicalizing and discrediting influence as it is a safeguard
for security," she said.
The report called for the camp to be closed.
In response, Washington said it looked forward to the
camp's closure but emphasized the need to keep terrorist suspects in prison.
"We don't want to be the world's jailers. We
certainly would look forward to the day when Guantanamo is closed," U.S. State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a daily briefing.
But he stressed that the military camp in Cuba was
housing "very dangerous people, including those who were responsible for the
attack on this country which killed 3,000 people."
The United States has been widely criticized for
human rights violations at the Guantanamo base, where it holds some 450
suspected al-Qaida and Taliban members. Some have been held for more than four
years without trial. Enditem
U.S. transfers 16 Guantanamo detainees
to Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States on
Thursday transferred 16 detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, to Afghanistan, and one detainee to Morocco, the Pentagon announced.
With Thursday's transfer, Washington has transferred about
335 detainees from Guantanamo to foreign governments, either for release or for
continued detention.
Approximately 440 detainees remain at Guantanamo. Full Story [1] [2] [3] [4]
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