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EU Parliament Slams US Military Tribunals
Friday, April 26, 2002

Issue Date: May 13, 2002 from Insight on the News

United Press International (UPI)

In regard to terrorism and human rights, the report called for "clarification of jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court," and for "the European Council and the member states to continue to denounce human rights violations in the world, including violations committed in countries which are allies in the war on terrorism."

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- UPI
The European Union's Parliament Thursday severely criticized the U.S. use of military tribunals to try Taliban and al Qaida prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and called on the United States to respect the Geneva Conventions, to which it is a party.

In a vote of 439 to 10 with 59 abstentions, the Parliament passed a human rights report that singled out the United States for violating the rights of prisoners captured in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led war there.

"While acknowledging that terrorist acts constitute a violation of human rights, Parliament is keen to highlight the underlying conditions that breed extremism and adds that the fight against terrorism must not in itself lead to breaches of human rights," said the measure adopted. "In this connection, it (the EU) calls for the legal status of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to be clarified. MEPs regard the military decree issued by President Bush, authorizing a military commission to judge these prisoners in secret, as a contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the USA is a signatory."

The resolution supports the position taken by Javier Solana -- that prisoners captured in the Afghanistan war and detained at Guantanamo Bay should be granted prisoner of war status.

"Any dispute as to their status should, it says, be decided by a competent tribunal," the EU Parliament said.
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Dan