UK presses to see Cuba captives
British diplomats are attempting to agree access arrangements to three Britons held on suspicion of fighting for the Taleban at an American naval base in Cuba.
They are also still trying to identify the men, among a group of 50 detainees - the first of an expected 2,000 - flown to the remote Guantanamo base from Afghanistan.
Human rights groups and some MPs have expressed concern about the way the prisoners are being held, in razor wire and concrete pens measuring 1.8 by 2.4 metres (six feet by eight feet).
But the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, waved away criticism of America's detention policy in an interview with the BBC.
He said: "I do not feel even the slightest concern about their treatment.
"They are being treated vastly better than they treated anybody else over the last several years and vastly better than was their circumstance when they were found."
Access pledge
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pledged to uphold the rights of the three men, but told the BBC that the government would not automatically protest against detainees reportedly being ill-treated en route to Cuba.
The American military has promised that British representatives will be allowed to visit the captives, but have yet to agree on how and when the access will be granted.
Mr Straw said it must not be forgotten that they were accused of being members of the most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world.
Meanwhile four Labour backbenchers have called on the UK Government to push the US to treat the men as prisoners of war and observe Geneva Convention.
Mr Straw said the men would be visited by British consular officials. The International Red Cross was also going to Cuba to check on the conditions in which the prisoners were being held.
Six more Britons suspected of links to the Taleban or al-Qaeda in Afghanistan are reportedly being sent to the camp.
The foreign secretary said he had not protested about the men being shackled and possibly hooded because of the "special circumstances" of the accusations against them.
Geneva Convention
"I defy anybody to say how you could transport potentially profoundly dangerous prisoners other than by wholly restraining them and ensuring that they couldn't signal with each other," he said.
"Whether or not technically they have rights under the Geneva Convention, they have rights in customary international law."
The prime minister's spokesman said on Tuesday the US had given assurances the prisoners were being treated in accordance with "international norms of behaviour".
The US described the first 20 detainees as the "worst elements" of the al-Qaeda terror network.
It makes me feel ashamed to know my countrymen assisted the Teleban and possible Al-Queda. John Walker was not the only traitor.
British diplomats are attempting to agree access arrangements to three Britons held on suspicion of fighting for the Taleban at an American naval base in Cuba.
They are also still trying to identify the men, among a group of 50 detainees - the first of an expected 2,000 - flown to the remote Guantanamo base from Afghanistan.
Human rights groups and some MPs have expressed concern about the way the prisoners are being held, in razor wire and concrete pens measuring 1.8 by 2.4 metres (six feet by eight feet).
But the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, waved away criticism of America's detention policy in an interview with the BBC.
He said: "I do not feel even the slightest concern about their treatment.
"They are being treated vastly better than they treated anybody else over the last several years and vastly better than was their circumstance when they were found."
Access pledge
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pledged to uphold the rights of the three men, but told the BBC that the government would not automatically protest against detainees reportedly being ill-treated en route to Cuba.
The American military has promised that British representatives will be allowed to visit the captives, but have yet to agree on how and when the access will be granted.
Mr Straw said it must not be forgotten that they were accused of being members of the most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world.
Meanwhile four Labour backbenchers have called on the UK Government to push the US to treat the men as prisoners of war and observe Geneva Convention.
Mr Straw said the men would be visited by British consular officials. The International Red Cross was also going to Cuba to check on the conditions in which the prisoners were being held.
Six more Britons suspected of links to the Taleban or al-Qaeda in Afghanistan are reportedly being sent to the camp.
The foreign secretary said he had not protested about the men being shackled and possibly hooded because of the "special circumstances" of the accusations against them.
Geneva Convention
"I defy anybody to say how you could transport potentially profoundly dangerous prisoners other than by wholly restraining them and ensuring that they couldn't signal with each other," he said.
"Whether or not technically they have rights under the Geneva Convention, they have rights in customary international law."
The prime minister's spokesman said on Tuesday the US had given assurances the prisoners were being treated in accordance with "international norms of behaviour".
The US described the first 20 detainees as the "worst elements" of the al-Qaeda terror network.
It makes me feel ashamed to know my countrymen assisted the Teleban and possible Al-Queda. John Walker was not the only traitor.
