01 February 2002
Congressional Report, February 1: Senator Inouye on Camp X-ray
(He sees "no problems whatsoever" with detainees' treatment) (410)
U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye said he found "no problems whatsoever" when
he visited the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that houses 158
detainees captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Hawaii Democrat traveled to Cuba on January 27 with three other
senators, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and 20 members of the
media in order to get a first-hand look at the conditions at the
detention facility. He said they spent two-and-a-half hours at the
facility.
Speaking to members of the media February 1 at the U.S. State
Department's Foreign Press Center in Washington, Inouye said the
conditions at Camp X-ray, which is located at the U.S. naval base in
Cuba, "are in many ways superior" to those at the Oahu Prison where he
regularly visited prisoners many years ago as an assistant prosecutor.
"I would say that -- though I'm no expert on the Geneva Convention[s]
-- ... if you're looking for humanitarian care and treatment, I can't
think of any other country that would provide a much more sensitive
and appropriate care of detainees or prisoners," Inouye said.
Inouye noted that each detainee has an individual cell, eight feet
wide and long as well as high, enclosed by a heavy wire mesh. Cells
are grouped in 12s, each with a common roof, with awnings on eastern
and western sides in case the sunlight is intense at dawn or dusk.
Each cell contains a mattress four or five inches thick, placed on the
floor. He noted that this is the custom in Afghanistan, where beds are
uncommon.
Each compound has three portable toilets, Inouye said, and also three
shower stalls. Detainees are individually escorted by two guards in
order to use either facility, he said.
The detainees receive a physical checkup weekly, and are weighed to
ensure they are not starving themselves, Inouye said. Their food is
prepared by a U.S. dietician knowledgeable about the dietary customs
of their region and the requirements of Islam, he said.
"If it's of any interest, I believe that their noon meal was a little
better than the noon meal we had on the plane," Inouye said with a
laugh.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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