27/06/2006
By Jane Sutton GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE (Reuters) - As the Bush administration awaits a ruling on the legitimacy of its Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, the U.S. State Department's top legal advisor said on Monday that emptying the detention camp posed "a real conundrum." The administration wants to send home more of the 540 foreign captives held as terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay naval base but many of their homelands won't take them, State Department legal advisor John Bellinger said in a conference call with journalists. "Many of the countries do not want their nationals back," Bellinger said. "A number of the countries actually deny that these individuals are even nationals of their countries." He said the United States welcomed invitations from other nations willing to accept them. The United States will not send prisoners home without credible assurances that they will not be abused or tortured, Bellinger said. It also wants assurances that those considered dangerous will be held in a secure place, he said. "We want to get out of the Guantanamo business if we can, while continuing to protect ourselves and protect others while ensuring that the detainees who are released are treated humanely," Bellinger said. "This is a real conundrum for us." The United States has faced harsh criticism for its treatment of the prisoners. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this week in a case that challenged President George W. Bush's power to try them before war crimes tribunals. The Bush administration has stepped up efforts to trim the camp population and has negotiated framework agreements with Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan on conditions for the return of their citizens. Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen each have about 100 citizens at Guantanamo, while the remainder come from three dozen nations, Bellinger said. The British government, which has already secured the release of all nine of its citizens held at Guantanamo, approached the United States about a month ago to discuss the potential return of a handful of non-citizens who were permanent residents of Britain, Bellinger said. "I would not say we are in negotiations with them. I would simply say the British government has approached us," he said. About 310 detainees have been released from Guantanamo since the United States began sending foreign captives to the remote naval base in Cuba in January 2002. The Pentagon has cleared another 120 to leave, either for outright release or for detention in their home nations.
SOURCE: Reuters |
