News-Info-Alerts

Re: ICRC to Ask for Access to POWs

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: March 24, 2003

"Red Cross to ask Iraq for access to war prisoners
 
Timothy L. O'Brien The New York Times
Tuesday, March 25, 2003

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that it planned to ask the Iraqi authorities for access to United States and British prisoners of war to ensure that they are being properly treated, an issue that gained attention after Arab television networks broadcast footage on Sunday of Iraqi soldiers interrogating five U.S. prisoners, as well as images of dead soldiers who were identified as Americans.

.The Red Cross has asked U.S. and British authorities for access to about 2,000 Iraqis taken captive since the U.S. invaded Iraq last Thursday. The Red Cross, which is based in Geneva, oversees the Geneva Conventions, the international code of conduct dating from 1949 that theoretically governs the humane treatment of civilians and combatants in wartime.

."I do not yet know the result of our approaches in Baghdad as far as access to U.S. prisoners of war are concerned," Jakob Kellenberger, president of the committee, told journalists in Geneva on Monday. "But I do note, and it's very important, that Iraq's defense minister has confirmed that for Iraq the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention are applicable."

.Among the four major Geneva Conventions protocols, the third relates to the treatment of war prisoners. Among other things, it mandates that "prisoners should not be exposed to public curiosity," nor be subjected to "humiliating and degrading treatment."

.The images of the U.S. prisoners, several of whom appeared frightened, wounded and disoriented, sparked a sharp rebuke from the White House. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the broadcast showed that Saddam Hussein's military was violating the Geneva Conventions.

.But Western news organizations have disseminated scores of photographs and other images of Iraqi prisoners being marched along highways in southern Iraq or held at gunpoint by U.S. soldiers, images that observers say exposes the White House to charges that it, too, is violating the conventions.

."We would remind both sides to take particular caution in respecting," the third convention, said Amanda Williamson, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Washington. She said it was uncertain exactly when the committee would gain access to prisoners on both sides, but hopes it will be "days, rather than weeks."

.In addition to monitoring the treatment of prisoners, the International Committee of the Red Cross can also carry messages from prisoners to their families and friends.

."It's essential that the ICRC be able to have access to both Iraqi POWs as well as the American POWs," said Matthew Parry, a regional associate with the American Red Cross in Washington. "It's crucial that the ICRC be seen as a neutral in the conflict so it can retain access to all prisoners."

.Parry said that an important difference between the images of the Iraqi POWs and the images of the U.S. POWs is that the U.S. prisoners were shown being interrogated, not merely being held in captivity. Images of prisoners held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, some 650 people suspected of having links to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, have also been distributed worldwide. But again, those images did not include interrogations.

.Nonetheless, a lawyer representing Saudi prisoners at Guantanamo Bay requested that the U.S. government observe the Geneva Conventions in its treatment of his clients by allowing them more adequate legal representation and speedier trials.

."As the United States wants its prisoners in Iraq to be treated according to the Geneva Conventions, we demand that our prisoners receive similar treatment," the lawyer, Kateb al Shemmari, said in a statement released to reporters.

.At the United Nations on Monday, Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, said that he believed that Iraq would observe the Geneva Conventions and stop broadcasting images of Western prisoners. He said he expected U.S. military officials to do the same.

."When this convention had been signed in 1949, there was no television at that time," Aldouri said. "Now the ICRC and others mentioned that they have not to do that, they will respect that."

.President George W. Bush said Sunday that he expected U.S. prisoners to be treated properly and that the same consideration would be given to Iraqi prisoners.

."We expect them to be treated humanely, just like we'll treat any prisoners of theirs that we capture humanely," Bush said. "If not, the people who mistreat the prisoners will be treated as war criminals."

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