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Author
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Topic: UN rejected Guantánamo visit to avoid setting precedent
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rici
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2710
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posted 17 February 2006 11:32 AM
Leandro Despouy, the Argentinian member of the UN Commission which recently demanded the closure of Guantánamo, was interviewed by the Buenos Aires daily Clarín (in Spanish):My translation (original below)
quote:
In a telephone conversation with Clarín, the Argentinian ambassador Leandro Despouy, one of the experts who wrote the report, explained that Guantánamo had not been visited "in order to avoid setting a precedent." According to Despouy, although they had been requesting authorization to go to Guantánamo since 2002, the invitation only arrived at the end of last year and with the restriction that they could not talk to the inmates. "That was unacceptable," said Despouy, adding that if it had been accepted, the next time that they tried to visit a jail in China or whatever other part of the world, Guantánamo would be cited as a precedent. "Within the United Nations system, one can have an interview with detainees in total freedom, both as to who interviews and as to who is interviewed; it's a golden rule. The invitation only included a visit to the buildings," he explained. Despouy analyzed the judicial situation of the detainees, [saying that it] was similar to what was suffered by Argentinians detained during the Dirty War. The Argentinian military said that ordinary justice, that is to say human rights, could not be applied because they were in a war. They also said that they couldn't apply the humanitarian rights of prisoners of war, because it was a dirty war. "They certainly applied neither one nor the other," said Despouy. "In this case it is the same, the Guantánamo detainees are in an undefined situation," he added.
quote:
Original:En conversación telefónica con Clarín, el embajador argentino Leandro Despouy, uno de los expertos que redactó el informe explicó que no había visitado Guantánamo "para no sentar un precedente". Según Despouy, pese a que venía pidiendo la autorización para ir a Guantánamo desde el 2002, la invitación llego recién a fines del año pasado y con la restricción de que no podrían hablar con los detenidos. "Esto era inaceptable", dijo Despouy agregando que si hubiera aceptado, la próxima vez que intenten visitar una cárcel en China o en cualquier otro país del mundo les iban a citar Guantánamo como precedentes. "Dentro del sistema de Naciones Unidas poder entrevistarse con los detenidos con toda libertad, tanto de parte del que visita como de la persona visitada, es una regla de oro. La invitación incluía solamente una visita a los edificios", explicó Despouy. A Despouy le tocó analizar la situación jurídica de los detenidos que según él, se parece a la que padecieron los detenidos argentinos durante la guerra sucia. Los militares argentinos decían que no podían aplicarle la Justicia ordinaria, es decir el derecho humano porque estaban en una guerra. Decían que tampoco podían aplicarle el derecho humanitario del que gozan los prisioneros de guerra porque se trataba de una guerra sucia. "En definitiva no les aplicaban ni uno ni lo otro", dijo Despouy. "En este caso pasa lo mismo, los detenidos de Guantánamo están en situación de indefinición", agregó.
Oops. Lack of proof-reading [ 17 February 2006: Message edited by: Rici Lake ]
From: Lima, Perú | Registered: Jun 2002
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