From an Amnesty International report
released Tuesday in response to the capture of American POWs in Iraq.
"On 23 March 2003, following the news that U.S. soldiers had been captured by Iraqi forces during the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, President George Bush said that "we expect them to be treated humanely, just like we'll treat any prisoners of theirs that we capture humanely ... If not, the people who mistreat the prisoners will be treated as war criminals."
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld added that "the Geneva Convention indicates that it's not permitted to photograph and embarrass or humiliate prisoners of war, and if they do happen to be American or coalition ground forces that have been captured, the Geneva Convention indicates how they should be treated."(3) His statement came after interviews with five captured U.S. soldiers had been broadcast on Iraqi television.(4)
On the same day, about 30 more detainees were flown from Afghanistan to the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. This brought to about 660 the number of foreign nationals held in the base.(5) They come from more than 40 countries. Most were taken into custody during the international armed conflict in Afghanistan. Some have been held in Guantanamo, without charge or trial, and without access to lawyers, relatives or the courts, for more than a year. Their treatment has flouted international standards."
Guantanamo pictures, distributed by the US to media all around the world, are here.
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