For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 7, 2002
Fact Sheet
Status of Detainees at Guantanamo
United States Policy.
The United States is
treating and will continue to treat all of the individuals detained at
Guantanamo humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with
military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of the
Third Geneva Convention of 1949.
The
President has determined that the Geneva Convention applies to the
Taliban detainees, but not to the al-Qaida detainees.
Al-Qaida is not a state party to the Geneva
Convention; it is a foreign terrorist group. As such, its
members are not entitled to POW status.
Although we never recognized the Taliban as
the legitimate Afghan government, Afghanistan is a party to the
Convention, and the President has determined that the Taliban are
covered by the Convention. Under the terms of the Geneva
Convention, however, the Taliban detainees do not qualify as POWs.
Therefore, neither the Taliban nor al-Qaida
detainees are entitled to POW status.
Even
though the detainees are not entitled to POW privileges, they will be
provided many POW privileges as a matter of policy.
All detainees at Guantanamo are being provided:
- three meals a day that meet Muslim dietary laws
- water
- medical care
- clothing and shoes
- shelter
- showers
- soap and toilet articles
- foam sleeping pads and blankets
- towels and washcloths
- the opportunity to worship
- correspondence materials, and the means to send mail
- the ability to receive packages of food and clothing, subject to security screening
The detainees will not be subjected to physical or mental abuse or
cruel treatment. The International Committee of the Red
Cross has visited and will continue to be able to visit the detainees
privately. The detainees will be permitted to raise concerns
about their conditions and we will attempt to address those concerns
consistent with security.
Housing. We are building facilities in Guantanamo more
appropriate for housing the detainees on a long-term
basis. The detainees now at Guantanamo are being housed in
temporary open-air shelters until these more long-term facilities can
be arranged. Their current shelters are reasonable in light
of the serious security risk posed by these detainees and the mild
climate of Cuba.
POW Privileges the Detainees will not receive. The
detainees will receive much of the treatment normally afforded to POWs
by the Third Geneva Convention. However, the detainees will
not receive some of the specific privileges afforded to POWs,
including:
- access to a canteen to purchase food,
soap, and tobacco
- a monthly advance of pay
- the ability to have and consult personal
financial accounts
- the ability to receive
scientific equipment, musical instruments, or sports outfits
Many detainees at Guantanamo pose a severe security risk to those
responsible for guarding them and to each other. Some of
these individuals demonstrated how dangerous they are in uprisings at
Mazar-e-Sharif and in Pakistan. The United States must take
into account the need for security in establishing the conditions for
detention at Guantanamo.
Background on Geneva Conventions. The Third Geneva
Convention of 1949 is an international treaty designed to protect
prisoners of war from inhumane treatment at the hands of their captors
in conflicts covered by the Convention. It is among four
treaties concluded in the wake of WWII to reduce the human suffering
caused by war. These four treaties provide protections for
four different classes of people: the military wounded and sick in land
conflicts; the military wounded, sick and shipwrecked in conflicts at
sea; military persons and civilians accompanying the armed forces in
the field who are captured and qualify as prisoners of war; and
civilian non-combatants who are interned or otherwise found in the
hands of a party (e.g. in a military occupation) during an armed
conflict.
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