Red Cross to meet with Gitmo prisoners

[Pens1566]

Text

They intend to talk in private with the newly arrived "high value" terrorism suspects. Could this be the reason for the big push to change Article 3 for things done in the past??

 

[ayabe]

Olbermann has been alluding to that the last couple nights on his program.

 

[chcarnage]

The US government has nothing to fear from the Red Cross. If the Red Cross discovers violations of the Geneva Conventions, it will inform the affected government, but stay discreet on the issue against the outside. Keeping access to POWs is a top priority of the Red Cross. The Red Cross is a unique institution among NGOs, the only one named in international humanitarian law, with unique access possibilities (and a unique moral dilemma: access vs information).

On a sidenote, I think the US administration wants to modify the human rights situation with national laws? I don't think there's much of a chance to change Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. The other possibility to avoid article 3 would be withdrawal from the Geneva Convention but that's totally unlikely, too... The administration would rather add a new interpretation of the GV or introduce yet another combattant status if necessary.

 

[blackangst1]

This isnt news. The Red Cross regulary visits gitmo.

 

[Czar]

The Redcross does not make a public statement unless it feels that the government responsible does nothing to change the situation.

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: blackangst1
This isnt news. The Red Cross regulary visits gitmo.

True, every 6 weeks. But this is the first time they've had access to people held in CIA "black sites". Try looking at the summary as well.

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: Pens1566

Originally posted by: blackangst1
This isnt news. The Red Cross regulary visits gitmo.

True, every 6 weeks. But this is the first time they've had access to people held in CIA "black sites". Try looking at the summary as well.

Pens, if it is not in the Washington Post then I won?t believe it.

President Bush is not trying to change the Geneva Convention, he can?t do that. What they are trying to do is define some of the terms and what the limits are in interrogation. As Bush states they are having a hard time questioning anyone right now because interrogators are worried about being brought up on charges. So they want a bill that defines what they can and can?t do? Water boarding=no, loud music and cold rooms= yes etc.

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: Pens1566

Originally posted by: blackangst1
This isnt news. The Red Cross regulary visits gitmo.

True, every 6 weeks. But this is the first time they've had access to people held in CIA "black sites". Try looking at the summary as well.

Pens, if it is not in the Washington Post then I won?t believe it.

President Bush is not trying to change the Geneva Convention, he can?t do that. What they are trying to do is define some of the terms and what the limits are in interrogation. As Bush states they are having a hard time questioning anyone right now because interrogators are worried about being brought up on charges. So they want a bill that defines what they can and can?t do? Water boarding=no, loud music and cold rooms= yes etc.

That's not my understanding of what they are trying to do, I thought a couple years ago AGAG and his buddies classified torture as something that causes organ failure and that anything short of that is fair game. Also, they do want water boarding since that fits into their definition as not being torture. Loud music, cold rooms, or standing for long periods I think is ok, but waterboarding, having female interrogators rub their panties on their faces or use ketchup to feign menstruation is not, that is an assault on their dignity and should be outlawed.

We'll see how this pans out next week when the interviews are conducted, regardless of what our do-nothing congress passes, we're going to be taking a lot of heat from the internation community, and I think this time there's going to be some demands for accountability. We can't continually call other regime's out on human rights violations and point to international law and then say, well that applies to everyone but us, because we're the good guys.