We have to talk individually with each detainee if of course the person wishes

We have to talk individually with each detainee, if of course the person wishes.”A further six al-Qa’ida suspects captured in Bosnia were yesterday handed over to the US and were due to be taken straight to Guantanamo Bay, despite the fact that the men – all Algerians – had earlier been ordered to be released by a local magistrate. The men are accused of plotting to attack the US embassy in Sarajevo.The Red Cross team’s arrival comes amid growing controversy over the conditions in which the prisoners are being held. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has said that the United States is wrong not to recognise the men at Guantanamo as prisoners of war and afford them the rights set down by the Geneva Conventions.The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, added to the debate yesterday when he told a UN Security Council meeting that governments must not tread on human rights as they attempt to crack down on terrorism. A UN official in Bosnia said the case of the six men who were handed over to the US was such an example of civil liberties being ignored.”It’s very disappointing,” said Madeleine Rees, head of the Bosnia office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. “It violates the rule of law.”Each interview with the prisoners at Guantanamo is expected to take an hour.

The Red Cross team is made up of linguists who speak several languages spoken by the Taliban and al-Qa’ida fighters, though if there are translation problems the interviews could take longer.The US also intends to interrogate each of the prisoners before any decision is made about placing them before military tribunals to face charges.A British team that arrived in Guantanamo yesterday intends to question at least three prisoners who claim to be British citizens. The team said that it would also ensure that the prisoners have the right to communicate with relatives, and will offer to deliver mail and messages.A spokesman for the US Southern Command, which oversees Guantanamo, said the captives were allowed to write letters, though it likely that they are thoroughly screened for security reasons.Captain Tom Crosson, a Southern Command spokesman, said the prisoners were given paper and pencils, but must return the pencils when they have finished writing “to keep the pencils from being used as weapons”.The prisoners at Guantanamo are being held in small chain-link cages, open to the elements and with concrete floors They are equipped with foam sleeping mats one inch thick. The US insists that the men are being treated humanely, even if their conditions are not comfortable.. I have characterised the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States as crimes against humanity and called for those responsible to be made accountable under the law. From the outset, President George Bush has stated it is the intent of his administration to bring those individuals to justice. This means the alleged perpetrators should be brought before a court and tried under due process of law.No one should underestimate the difficulties of dealing with terrorism under the rule of law As a citizen of Ireland I certainly do not But it is not impossible. The international human rights and humanitarian standards allow for flexibility in emergencies but the standards still apply and must be upheld.

These standards are enshrined in various legal instruments, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by America in 1992, and the Geneva Conventions of 1949.The armed conflict in Afghanistan is of an international nature and the law of international armed conflict applies That means the Geneva Conventions. These prescribe standards of treatment of persons who are not, or are no longer, taking an active part in hostilities. I am pleased to note the International Committee of the Red Cross has reached agreement with the US on visiting prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan.The individuals detained include members of the Taliban and those suspected of being part of al-Qa’ida. Some commentators ask if the al-Qa’ida forces are covered by the law of international armed conflict. Under the Third Geneva Convention, to the extent that they are characterised as members of militias or volunteer corps linked to the Taliban, they could qualify.In any event the starting point is that these prisoners, unless charged with terrorist offences, should be presumed to be prisoners of war. The US authorities’ view is that they are “unlawful combatants” and the Geneva Conventions do not apply America is entitled to make this case But the issue can only be determined by a court. Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention provides that should there be doubt as to whether an individual enjoys PoW status, they shall be treated as such until their status has been determined by a competent judicial tribunal.America has the right to try any persons suspected of having committed war crimes during the conflict or of having committed other international crimes, prior to the hostilities, such as the terrorist attacks on 11 September.

But unless the prisoners are to face such charges, they must be repatriated once the conflict is over.States have painstakingly built up the international standards. In these difficult times for human rights we should be seeing a strong affirmation of the importance of these standards. If we do not, we are creating a dangerous precedent that will surely come back to haunt us.Mary Robinson is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Maria Matayev stood in the Mediterranean sun, determined that her unstoppable tears should not interrupt the story that she felt she must tell, pressing on even as her two friends were lowered into freshly dug graves in the Jewish cemetery a few yards away. “At first we didn’t understand what was happening because the music in the hall was too loud But then I saw the gunman. Israel’s Russians have been hard hit by the 16-month conflict.