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Amnesty Barred From Guantanamo TrialsBy Ewen MacAskill
Guardian
February 24, 2004Amnesty International and two other leading human rights organisations are protesting to the Pentagon about its decision not to let them attend the planned trials of al-Qaida suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The US defence department, in a written response to the organisations published today, refused to allow them to send representatives, citing the lack of courtroom space and other logistical problems. Journalists and the International Committee of the Red Cross will be able to attend. Lesley Warner, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International, said yesterday: "The US regularly criticises other governments for failing to accommodate trial monitors." "Allowing media coverage while pleading insufficient space for human rights groups smacks of fear of informed criticism, and will only fuel the perception that tribunals will be show trials." The three organisations, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First, have written a letter of complaint to the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, urging him to rethink. No date has been set for the hearings. Daniel Dell'Orto, principal deputy general counsel at the defence department, said in the letter to the organisations: "If a military commission is held t is expected that limited courtroom seating and other logistical issues will preclude attendance by many who desire to observe military commission proceedings." "We intend to provide seating for the press to permit full and open reporting to the maximum extent practicable." Wendy Patten, of Human Rights Watch, said: "The defence department wants to control who can talk to the journalists covering the trials. "The Pentagon has imposed a gag rule on defence lawyers, who can only speak to the press with the military's permission. "Now it wants to shut out experienced trial observers who could provide the public with independent analysis." The three bodies say that the ICRC is unlikely to offer public comment because it operates through confidential communications with governments.
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