US faces criticism on Guantanamo anniversary

“It is time to get our children back or for them to be tried in an impartial court,” said Khalid al-Odah, a Kuwaiti whose 26-year-old son Fawzi was one of the first to arrive at the bleak outpost. “But nobody is listening. That is the problem.”

Al-Odah’s hopes are resting on the US Supreme Court, which is to hear the first appeal early this year on whether the prisoners should have access to American courts, something opposed by President George Bush.

Over the past two years, US officials have released 88 people held at the detention camp in eastern Cuba – but new ones have regularly been brought in, bringing the current detainee population to about 660.

While Washington has promised tribunals, it also continues to expand the prison. Eventually it will have 1,100 cells, raising further questions of what the future holds for the mission.

Many critics say the US has abandoned its judicial principles in its zeal to prevent another terrorist attack on its soil following September 11, 2001.

“You have people sitting there for two years with rights under international law being utterly ignored by the administration,” said Jamie Fellner, US director of Human Rights Watch.

Since the first prisoners arrived on January 11, 2002, the US government has classified the men as “enemy combatants” and not prisoners of war, which would afford them more legal protection.

They have been held without charge and interrogated repeatedly. Only last month were military defence lawyers assigned – and only to two prisoners.

“We want to do it quickly, but we want to do it right,” said Air Force Major John Smith, a lawyer in the office of military commissions at the Pentagon. He said the procedures now need only “tweaks and minor additions”.

A retired US Army general has been appointed to oversee the tribunals, which apply the death penalty. A four-member review panel has been chosen. The desks, name plates, closed-circuit television and government seals are already in place at a building in Guantanamo. Yet no order has been given for trials to start.

The first tribunals could begin within 30 days of receiving an order, said Major General Geoffrey Miller, commander of the detention operation.

The detainees, from 44 countries, are being held on suspicion of links to Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime or al Qaida terror network. Among the prisoners are three boys ages 13 to 15.

The indefinite detention has drawn concern from several US allies including Britain, which has nine citizens at the base.

Lord Steyn, a law lord, recently said holding the tribunals in Cuba would be a “monstrous failure of justice”.

Twenty-one prisoners have attempted suicide, some multiple times and most by trying to hang themselves, officials say.

The US government has denied mistreatment, noting detainees can exchange censored letters with family, are well fed and receive quality medical care.

Officials began rewarding detainees last year for good behaviour – and for providing information about terror cells. Miller says the amount of useful intelligence information has increased, although he has refused to talk about how the information has helped the war on terror.

Inside a medium-security area, detainees deemed cooperative play soccer and talk to other detainees.

But one privilege that has been eliminated is contact with the camp’s Muslim spiritual adviser.

Authorities suspended the meetings last year after the arrest of chaplain Captain James Yee amid accusations of mishandling classified information.

He was one of four arrested by investigators looking into alleged security breaches at the base.

The new Muslim chaplain, Captain Khallid Shabazz, arrived two weeks ago but said he would only minister to Muslim soldiers – not detainees.