WASHINGTON — Rising to counter mounting criticism after months of favorable world opinion for the war effort, U.S. officials forcefully denied Tuesday that Al Qaeda suspects are being treated inhumanely at a makeshift military prison in Cuba.
In the last few days, critics ranging from members of British Parliament to U.S. civil rights groups have accused the United States of mistreating the detainees, who are being held in 8-by-8-foot wire cages at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and said they should be turned over to legal rather than military authorities.
The latest round of complaints apparently was triggered by photographs released over the weekend by the Defense Department showing prisoners bound and kneeling, wearing masks, earmuffs and goggles. The pictures were taken as new prisoners were brought from a plane to a corridor near their cells, and then asked to kneel so soldiers could remove their earmuffs and other articles, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon.
The restraints are used only in transit, he said, "where bad things happen," citing the case of Al Qaeda fighters who recently killed the Pakistani guards who were moving them.
Those wearing masks were suspected of having tuberculosis, Rumsfeld said. As for the earmuffs, some defense officials have voiced concern about communication between the prisoners giving rise to a revolt.
"Let there be no doubt," a visibly perturbed Rumsfeld said. "The treatment of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay is proper, it's humane, it's appropriate and it is fully consistent with international conventions.
"No detainee has been harmed. No detainee has been mistreated in any way. And the numerous articles, statements, questions, allegations and breathless reports on television are undoubtedly by people who are either uninformed, misinformed or poorly informed."
At the base, 158 detainees have been flown in and are being housed in wire cages in what is dubbed Camp X-Ray, because the military guards can see them at all times.
Lt. Col. Bill Costello said that, despite the continuing criticism, the detainees are being fed well, treated by doctors when necessary and soon will be ministered by a Navy Muslim cleric being dispatched to the Caribbean base.
Costello said the cages are temporary, adding that contractors and Navy Seabees are busy erecting enough of the two-man cells to hold 2,000 detainees. He said that no orders have been received to build permanent holding cells or courtrooms, should any military tribunals be held there.
