Red Cross alleges torture at Guantanamo Bay, reports say

A spokesman for Donald Rumsfeld (pictured) said the Bush administration disagreed with the Red Cross.

WASHINGTON - The Red Cross has reportedly accused the Bush administration of overseeing the intentional physical and psychological torture of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay.

It also accused doctors and medics of liaising with interrogators in what was a "flagrant violation of medical ethics", reports said.

In a confidential report to the US authorities, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the military guards and interrogators at the prison deliberately used psychological and physical coercion that was "tantamount to torture", according to the New York Times.

The ICRC yesterday refused to confirm the authenticity of the report, which reportedly said the treatment its officials had witnessed had been increasingly "refined and repressive". The report by the Red Cross - the only independent organisation permitted to visit the prisoners - was written following a visit by its inspection team in June.

It was reported that it said it discovered a system designed to break the will of the 550 prisoners through "humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes [and] use of forced positions".

It was quoted as saying: "The construction of such a system whose stated purpose is the production of intelligence cannot be considered other than an intentional system of cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and a form of torture."

While the organisation has previously criticised the treatment of prisoners at the camp, it said it could only ensure its continued access to such prisoners around the world by insisting that its comments remain private.

"The contents of the ICRC's representations and reports are confidential and for the exclusive attention of the relevant detaining authorities," it said in a statement.

"The ICRC uses its exchanges with governments to make clear its concerns and recommendations regarding the situation in places of detention and to demand changes when necessary. Guantanamo Bay is no exception."

Earlier this year, four British prisoners who had been released without charge from the jail after more than two years, compiled a detailed report that alleged inmates were subjected to a regime of Abu Ghraib-style torture, abuse and sexual humiliation.

Louise Christian, a London-based lawyer who represents two of the four Britons still being held, said last night: "I welcome this report but I wish it had come earlier. I know that Martin Mubanga [one of the prisoners] has complained of torture and I know that Feroz Abbasi [another prisoner] says he has been tortured and subjected to religious and sexual humiliation. All these stories are very consistent with one another."

She added: "I hope the US government will stand up and take some notice. This is a scandal that will not go away."

Michael Ratner, director of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit group which has filed various lawsuits on behalf of prisoners, said: "This report is remarkable....[What is happening] is a serious violation of international criminal law. The language of the authorities is Orwellian.

"They say they are providing humane treatment but the Red Cross says it is tantamount to torture."

The Pentagon insists that prisoners are treated humanely, even though the Bush administration has refused to afford them the rights contained in the Geneva Conventions.

Larry Di Rita, a spokesman for Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said yesterday that the Red Cross officials had "made their view known".

"It's their point of view [but it is not shared by the administration]," he said.

The overwhelming majority of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are being held without access to lawyers. Earlier this summer the US Supreme Court ruled that the prisoners should have access to the courts. The Bush administration has so far failed to make that happen.

- THE INDEPENDENT