Defense Department Report, November 1: Detainees, Pakistan, Japan
01 November 2005
U.S. will allow U.N. visitors partial access at Guantanamo detention facility
United Nations personnel have been "offered an opportunity" to travel to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but will not have the extensive access to detainees that the International Red Cross enjoys, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
At a Pentagon briefing November 1, Rumsfeld was asked why he thought detainees at Guantanamo had been undertaking hunger strikes since August. "[To] capture press attention, obviously," he replied. "And they've succeeded." He said discussions have taken place with U.N. officials, and the United States would allow them to "see for themselves" the Guantanamo facility.
However, Rumsfeld said, the United States has not indicated to them "that they would have exactly the same opportunities that the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] has.
"There's got to be a limit to how one does that," Rumsfeld continued. "And the ICRC has been doing it for a great many years, and has had complete and total access … ever since Guantanamo was opened. And so, we're not inclined to add the number of people that would be given that extensive access."
Rumsfeld said that the decision was a result of an interagency process, and thus represents the U.S. government, not simply the views of the Defense Department.
UPDATE ON U.S. MILITARY AID TO PAKISTAN FOR EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY
Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there are now more than 800 U.S. military personnel working with their Pakistani counterparts involved in earthquake relief efforts.
Pace, who briefed with Rumsfeld at the Pentagon November 1, said 24 U.S. helicopters are being used, and nine more are en route. In addition, fixed-wing aircraft are dropping relief supplies.
"Almost 4,000 tons of relief supplies have been delivered," Pace said. Mobile field hospitals, including a Marine surgical facility, “are providing medical care,” he said. Engineers and Seabees – the U.S. Navy’s construction units -- are clearing roads to allow the Pakistani government to provide needed help. (See related article.)
LATEST U.S.-JAPAN BASING ARRANGEMENT IN BOTH COUNTRIES' INTEREST
Rumsfeld says that the latest basing arrangement for U.S. forces in Japan is "in both of our interests."
The defense secretary said the United States would be moving thousands of personnel from Okinawa, as well as "rearranging ourselves on bases in a way that we're sharing bases more often with the Japanese Defense Forces." Discussions had taken place for two years on the subject, he said.
The arrangements are "bold, they're new, they're significant. They represent a maturity in that relationship that's healthy and looking forward toward the 21st century," Rumsfeld said.
MARINE CORPS TO ASSIGN PERSONNEL TO SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
Rumsfeld announced that he had approved creation of a Marine Corps component in U.S. Special Operations Command. The effect will be to increase the number of special operations forces available for missions worldwide, while at the same time expanding their capabilities in certain areas.
Additional information on the new Marines special operations command is available at the Defense Department Web site.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
