[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Appeal from AI on children held at Guantanamo
Alfred Kagan
akagan at uiuc.edu
Thu Oct 9 14:37:46 CDT 2003
>
>
>>
>> From Amnesty International
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: mart [mailto:mart2 at sgci.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 8:16 PM
>> To: CubaNews at yahoogroups.com
>> Subject: [CubaNews] Appeal from AI on children held
>> at Guantanamo
>> Importance: High
>>
>>
>> From: CAW International Department (Deborah Bissett)
>> To: cawint at caw.ca
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 11:55 AM
>> Subject: An important appeal from Amnesty
>> International
>> on children being held at Guantanemo Bay
>>
>>
>> An important appeal from Amnesty International
>> on children being held at Guantanemo Bay.
>>
>> Carol Phillips,
>> International Director,
>> Canadian Auto Workers Union,
>> Toronto Canada
>> tel - 416 497-4110
>>
>> USA/Afghanistan:
>> Children "discovered" at Guantanamo Bay
>>
>> In late April 2003, a handful of 13-15 years olds
>> were
>> "discovered" among over 650 detainees in Guant·namo
>> Bay, Cuba. The children had been transferred -
>> possibly
>> from the Air Base in Bagram, Afghanistan - earlier
>> this
>> year. An unknown number of 16-18 year olds including
>> Omar al-Khadr, a 16-year-old Canadian national, are
>> also held.
>>
>> These children have already been victimized once as
>> child soldiers. Now they face the same legal limbo
>> and
>> difficult conditions as other so-called "illegal
>> combatants"
>> being held indefinitely by US authorities without
>> charge
>> or trial. Reports indicate that the child detainees
>> may be
>> being subjected to repeated interrogation.. Amnesty
>> International is further concerned about the impact
>> of
>> prolonged indefinite detention in conditions of
>> isolation
>> on their physical and mental well-being.
>>
>> International law and standards recognize the
>> particular
>> vulnerability of children and require, among other
>> things,
>> that children be detained only as a last resort and
>> for the
>> shortest time possible. In the case of children who
>> have
>> participated in combat, assistance must be provided
>> for
>> proper demobilization, physical & psychological
>> rehabilitation, and reintegration. All staff working
>> with child
>> detainees must have appropriate training.
>>
>> TAKE ACTION
>>
>> Please send a courteously worded letter, fax or
>> e-mail
>> the President of the United States urging that: all
>> children
>> (anyone under the age of 18) being held in
>> Guant·namo
>> Bay be granted immediate access to lawyers and their
>> families, and that their treatment be fully in
>> accordance
>> with international law and standards which require
>> that the
>> general and special needs of children be fully
>> recognized
>> and met any detained child be promptly charged and
>> tried
>> within a reasonable time or released In your letters
>> you
>> may also stress the USA's international obligation
>> to assist
>> in the demobilization and rehabilitation of former
>> child
>> soldiers.
>>
>> WRITE TO:
>> George W. Bush
>> The President
>> The White House
>> 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
>> Washington DC 20500
>> USA
>> Fax: +1 202 456 2461
>> E-mail: president at whitehouse.gov
>>
>> FURTHER BACKGROUND
>> More than 650 detainees from over 40 countries are
>> being
>> held without charge or trial in the US Naval Base in
>> Guant·namo Bay in Cuba. Although most were captured
>> during military operations in Afghanistan they have
>> been
>> summarily denied prisoner of war status.
>>
>> Most of these detainees have not had access to
>> consular
>> officials. None have been granted access to lawyers
>> or
>> relatives, nor have they had the opportunity to
>> challenge
>> the lawfulness of their detention in a court of law.
>>
>> They face the prospect of indefinite detention in
>> small
>> cells for up to 24 hours a day and the possibility
> > of trials
>> by executive military commissions with the power to
>> hand
>> down death sentences and no right of appeal. At
>> least 25
>>
>> suicide attempts have been reported.
>> Amnesty International takes no position on whether
>> any
>> of these detainees are guilty of any crime. This is
>> a matter
>> for a competent legal tribunal to determine. We are
> > concerned however that they are being held: outside
>> the
>> framework of human rights protections against
>> arbitary
>> arrest, secret detention and unfair trial outside
>> the
>> framework of the Convention on the Rights of the
>> Child,
>> a treaty intended to ensure that children who commit
>> crimes and children unlawfully enlisted as child
>> soldiers
>> are given the opportunity for rehabilitation;
>> outside of the
>> framework of the Vienna Convention's protections for
>> detainees held by foreign governments; and outside
>> the framework of the Geneva Convention, laws of war
>> intended to protect combatants from being criminally
>> prosecuted simply for being soldiers The Third
>> Geneva
>> Convention requires that any dispute about whether a
>> detainee deserves the status of prisoner of war must
>> be
>> resolved by a competent tribunal.
>>
>> The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations requires
>> that
>> any person detained by a foreign government be given
>> access to their consulate.
>>
>> The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires
>> that the
>> treatment of children under the age of 18 take
>> account of
>> their status as a minor, including their increased
>> vulnerability
>> to harm and their potential for rehabilitation.
>>
>> The failure to comply with these international legal
>> standards
>> brings into sharp focus a number of ongoing concerns
>> about
>> people detained in the conflict Afghanistan. The
>> failure to
>> comply with international laws and standards is of
>> serious
>> concern because of: the poor example set for
>> Afghanistan as
>> the country attempts to re-establish the rule of law
>> after more
>> than two decades of war and retribution the threat
>> to the truth
>> posed by secrecy and the failure to follow proper
>> legal
>> procedures the possible compounding of the human
>> rights
>> violations that would have begun when the young
>> people were
>> recruited as child soldiers.
>>
>> For more information:
>>
>> USA: The Guant·namo scandal continues. By dismissing
>> Amnesty International's concerns about the hundreds
>> of
>> detainees held in the US Naval Base in Guant·namo
>> Bay
>> as "without merit", the White House is at the same
>> time
>> rejecting much wider international disquiet, Amnesty
>> International said today. News release. May 29
>>
>> USA: Letter to President Bush - Children in
>> Guant·namo
>> Bay. Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene
>> Khan has written to President Bush. Her letter
>> states: "
>> .... we are now urgently requesting your assurances
>> that
>> the USA will abide by its international obligations
>> in relation
>> to these young detainees." News release April 24
>>
>> Amnesty International's recommendations for
>> rebuilding
>> respect for human rights in Afghanistan November 1,
>> 2001 Summary [html | pdf ] Opinion [html] Report
>> [html]
>>
>> Memorandum to the US Government on the rights of
>> people in US custody in Afghanistan and Guant·namo
>> Bay. April 2002. AMR 51/053/2002.
>>
>>
>> REAL SECURITY:
>> A human rights agenda for protecting civilian lives
>> and safety
>>
>>
>> FALSE SECURITY:
>> the erosion of human rights safeguards in the name
>> of security
>>
>>
>> TAKE ACTION FOR REAL SECURITY
>>
>> Defending those most at risk: human rights defenders
>> and
>> children in Guatemala
>>
>> Holding the international arms trade accountable:
>> grounding
>> the smugglers who supply guns to human rights
>> abusers
>>
>> Bringing human rights violators to justice: the
>> cycle of violence
>> and retribution in Afghanistan must end
>>
>> Standing up for basic legal safeguards: A growing
>> number of
>> foreign nationals have been detained without charge
>> or trial in
>> the United Kingdom.
>>
>>
>>
>> AI Canada (English Speaking),
>> 312 Laurier Avenue East,
>> Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 1H9
> > Phone: (613) 744-7667
>> or 1-800-AMNESTY
>> Fax: (613) 746-2411
>> info at amnesty.ca
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been
>> removed]
>>
>>
>>
>> Peruuta ryhm”n tilaus l”hett”m”ll” s”hk–postia
>> osoitteeseen:
>> kominform2-unsubscribe at egroups.com
>>
>>
>>
>> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>>
>>
>> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> > ---------------------~-->
>> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP,
>> Epson, Canon or Lexmark
>> Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or
>> more to the US & Canada.
>> http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
>>
>http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/xYTolB/TM
>>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>>
>> To view the current thirty CubaNews messages:
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/messages
>>
>> If this message was forwarded to you, subscription
>> details may be found here:
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
>>
>> To unsubscribe from this CubaNews group, send an
>> email to:
>> CubaNews-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.
>>
>> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>>
>>
>
>
>__________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
>http://shopping.yahoo.com
--
Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA
tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
More information about the Peace-discuss
mailing list