GENEVA (AP):
A UNITED Nations report condemning United States treatment of terror suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, received quick support yesterday from the European Parliament and human rights organisations.
"The European Parliament calls on the United States administration to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and insists that every prisoner should be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law and tried without delay in a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, impartial tribunal," the EU assembly said in a resolution in Strasbourg, France.
The Parliament, whose resolutions are non-binding but are used as a form of political pressure, said the U.S. should take the steps even though "global terrorism directed against democracies and their populations poses a threat to the basic and fundamental human rights our societies enjoy."
Reed Brody, counsel with Human Rights Watch in New York, said, "Instead of disparaging these respected monitors, the U. S. should listen to what the world is saying. There is no legal basis for keeping detainees for such a long period without charge or trial. What's important here is that there is a chorus of international voices."
