The International Committee of the Red Cross Thingy, which monitors the Geneva conventions on international humanitarian law, stayed resolutely silent today on the capture of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
| AP's just waiting for them to kick in with how mistreated Sammy was, being checked for lice and cyanide pills on the teevee... |
ICRC spokeswoman Annick Bouvier said the agency had no comment on whether it would regard him as a prisoner of war entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions.
| Nope. Not a prisoner of war. He's a fugitive head of state. Different category, so sorry! |
"It is premature for us to react," Bouvier said. "We want to take our time to react." The U.S.-led authorities running Iraq have granted the Red Cross Thingy access to other captured members of Saddam's former regime, including those on the U.S. "most wanted list." The ICRC, which prides itself for its discretion, has never revealed details about the conditions of detention. It has also never publicly named any of the senior figures it has visited. Bouvier also would not be drawn on whether the U.S. authorities had violated the Geneva Conventions in transmitting video images of an unshaven Saddam being examined by a doctor shortly after his capture.
Article 13 of the 1949 conventions, which set basic standards in armed conflict, says that prisoners should be treated humanely and should "at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity." |