KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - GUANTANAMO DETAINEES

UNCLAS KUWAIT 002396 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, S/WCI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PREL PTER KCRM KU TERRORISM SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - GUANTANAMO DETAINEES Block Quotes -------------- Monday, June 19, 2006 -- Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of Kuwait's Attorneys Society Mr. Mubarak Al-Shimari wrote in moderate Arabic daily Al-Rai Al-Aam under the title "The Truth about What Happened in Guantanamo?": "What took place in Guantanamo is a disgrace to humanity. It contradicts all the nicely put words and sentences that the U.S. Administration forms on human rights. When three detainees --two Saudis and one Yemeni-- at the detention center died, it was announced that they committed suicide. Was that the truth, or were they murdered? There are concerns among some people who believe that the death of these detainees was a mass murder. They have unsuccessfully tried to get the rest of the world to hear their voices; but no one has responded. Private and governmental human rights organizations and attorneys for the detainees have attempted to arrange meetings with them, and requested that they at least be charged with whatever crime they were accused of committing. But, the answer consistently has been 'no' from the U.S. Administration. The United States, the world super power and the first allegedly proclaimed defender of human rights is committing acts that contradict all its stated human right values. The news about the death of the three detainees in Guantanamo, and the carelessness and injustice that they have suffered, brought back to my mind the U.S. Department of State reports on human rights in third world prisons, and the investigations in every case of death and torture. We as the Human Rights Committee of Kuwait's Attorneys Society add our voice to those who are calling for the closure of the detention center in Guantanamo, and giving every detainee his legal rights." ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * TUELLER