Taliban and al Qaida fighters held at a U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are prisoners of war who should be repatriated once armed hostilities end unless they face criminal charges, a U.N.'s human-rights official said. "The overwhelming view of legal opinion is that they were combatants in an international armed conflict and their status is defined and protected by the Geneva Conventions of 1949," said Mary Robinson, U.N. high commissioner for human rights. "They are prisoners of war." Asked about reports of an estimated 50 prisoners being drugged while transported and kept in outside cages, Robinson told reporters, "We are very concerned and are seeking to ascertain more information."
Shucks, Mary. We sure are sorry we turned down your offer to round them up for us. Nice of you to step in and take charge, now that the shooting's over. |