The head of Amnesty International has joined widespread criticism of the treatment by the US of al-Qaeda prisoners brought to Cuba. Speaking in Dublin yesterday, Ms Irene Khan described pictures of kneeling, manacled and blindfolded prisoners being held in a US army base in Cuba as "appalling and horrifying".
Ms Khan told The Irish Times that the pictures, released on a US Navy website, would send out the wrong message throughout the world. The treatment of the prisoners clearly contravened UN standards and posed "an enormous threat to the human rights system."
Britain is to seek an explanation from the US about the circumstances in which the pictures were taken. The Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, said: "The British government's position is that prisoners, regardless of their technical status, should be treated humanely and in accordance with customary international law."
The US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, said it was unfair to suggest the "hard-core terrorists" were being handled inhumanely.
"Obviously anyone would be concerned if people were suggesting that treatment were not proper," he said.
"The fact remains that the treatment is proper. There is no doubt in my mind that it is humane and appropriate and consistent with the Geneva Convention for the most part."
A four-member team from the International Committee of the Red Cross has been at the base since Thursday.
