Terror's cellblock
Complaints over the handling of suspects at Guantanamo are raising hackles in Washington
Secretary of State Colin Powell has argued inside the Bush administration that some detainees held at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should not be in custody. In a strongly worded letter written to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Powell also maintained that the Pentagon's mishandling of detainees at Guantanamo Bay undermines America's ability to win cooperation in the war on terror. He cited complaints from eight allies that want their citizens held at Guantanamo released to their custody.
Most detainees, including al Qaeda operatives and fighters for the Taliban regime, were taken into custody during the war in Afghanistan. But Powell's April 14 letter, described to U.S. News, says that both teenagers and the very elderly are among the prisoners. According to Powell, the military is holding one 13-year-old, one 14-year-old, two 15-year-olds, one 16-year-old, an 88-year-old, and a 98-year-old. Powell also questioned why it is taking so long to reach "a final determination" on the fate of the roughly 660 people from 42 countries being held at the base.
Not surprisingly, Rumsfeld rejected Powell's assertions. The two have knocked heads before, most often over the State Department's complaint that America cannot ignore its friends abroad. In a written answer, Rumsfeld chided State for failing to negotiate extradition deals with allies. A Pentagon official emphasized that many detainees remain a serious threat to Americans.
The issue was settled, at least for now, at a meeting Powell and Rumsfeld attended with President Bush late last month. The Pentagon agreed to expedite the release of the 100 or more prisoners sought by the allies, including Britain, Russia, Pakistan, and Spain. Intelligence agencies in some of those countries want to question the detainees. Meanwhile, Pentagon officials are readying a plan to hold "commissions" to try alleged terrorists.
Camp X-Ray. Since the detainees were first transported to Guantanamo, Powell has argued that they should be granted the protections of the Geneva Conventions. But the Bush administration has refused to designate them as prisoners of war; instead, they have been tagged as "unlawful combatants" with few, if any, legal rights. Conditions at Guantanamo's Camp X-Ray are said to be humane--Muslim prisoners receive a copy of the Koran, and in each cell a stenciled yellow arrow points toward Mecca. But critics like Human Rights Watch say detainees should be charged or released--not held indefinitely.
That's not happening. According to Powell's letter, not a single case is ready for prosecution in the United States, and criminal case files are incomplete. In addition, says a U.S. intelligence official, the agencies involved in interrogations--including the FBI, the CIA, and the military's intelligence services--must all sign off before a prisoner can be released. "Each agency had to sign a piece of paper guaranteeing this person would never commit a violent act against the United States," says the intelligence official.' That's one reason it took months before the initial five detainees were released last year; another 18 were let go in March. Officials also question whether prisoners have much to offer interrogators. Some have provided useful intelligence. But, says one official, "most of these people have no intelligence value."
Even Rumsfeld seems to concede the point. In a letter to Powell, he suggested that the beleaguered new Afghan government should build a prison to house "low-grade" prisoners from Guantanamo. A senior State Department official called the idea impractical and "breathtaking." Powell shot it down.
Bin Laden aide seized
Pakistani police nabbed one of America's most wanted al Qaeda operatives last week--Tawfiq bin Attash, who is suspected of masterminding the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000 and helping plan the 9/11 terrorist attack. "He is easily in the top 10 people of the remaining al Qaeda leadership," says one U.S. intelligence official. Like al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Attash is a Saudi of Yemeni origin and is believed to be close to bin Laden. U.S. intelligence officials are eager to question Attash about the elusive bin Laden.
This story appears in the May 12, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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