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Red Cross had Full Access to Cuba Detainees
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
(2:18 PM ET) (19:18 GMT)
The Cable News Network

Detainees are shackled and escorted by two guards whenever they leave their cells.
Photo Credit: CNN.

"The treatment of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay is proper, it's humane, it's appropriate and it is fully consistent with international conventions," U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeldtold told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. "No detainee has been harmed. No detainee has been mistreated in any way."

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba -- CNN
After the Red Cross met with Afghan war detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to assess their treatment, the delegation leader said Tuesday his group had full access to the captives and the United States has been receptive to its suggestions.

Urs Boegli, chief Washington representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, spoke to reporters on his way to Washington. It was the first public assessment from the Red Cross since the delegation arrived last week.

The delegates had privacy as they met with the detainees, and were given complete access to all the detainees, although they only met with 30 of them, Boegli said.

Boegli indicated the prisoners were not restrained and were able to shake hands with the Red Cross delegates. The meetings lasted an average of 45 minutes to an hour, he said.
(More: CNN.com News Source)
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Dan