Posted on: Friday, January 18, 2002

EDITORIAL
U.S. must treat Cuba detainees lawfully

The visit by representatives of the International Red Cross to the Guantanamo naval base should give the world additional information about the handling of al-Qaida and Taliban detainees there.

But there's still a need for a more forthcoming response by U.S. officials as well as assurances that the prisoners are being treated according to international law.

In effect, the 400 or so now being held in Cuba should be treated according to the Geneva Convention.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the prisoners are being handled "in a manner that is reasonably consistent with the Geneva Convention ... for the most part."

That's not good enough.

Rumsfeld contends the United States is not bound by the convention because the detainees are "unlawful combatants."

According to The Washington Post, that is not a determination Rumsfeld can unilaterally make. The convention requires that when combatants are captured, they must be given a hearing to determine their status. Prisoners would have a right to testify at such hearings.

It is likely that some of those captured fit the description of a lawful combatant, in that they were uniformed forces of the Taliban government. Others, we know, were unlawful combatants from third-party nations.

But even in those cases, the Convention on Torture requires that they not be deported back to their home country until guarantees can be obtained that they will be properly treated.

There is no doubt that these are bad guys who would be more than willing to suicidally take out their captors if they had the chance. So super-tight security must be the order of the day.

And considering the information they might have, the United States has an obligation to try to get more out of them than name, rank and serial number.

But overall, there is much to gain in terms of international acceptance of the ongoing war on terrorism if we follow the Geneva Convention and be more open about who we are holding and what we are doing with them.