- (AFP) -- The international Red Cross has asked the US-led
coalition in Iraq for access to captured former Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein.
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- Under the Geneva Conventions the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) has the right to contact any prisoner of war or
detained civilian.
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- "We have been in contact with the Americans regularly
concerning prisoners of war and other detainees in Iraq and in the course
of this contact we have also talked about Saddam Hussein," ICRC spokesman
Florian Westphal said.
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- "Saddam Hussein, as somebody protected by the Geneva
Conventions, has a right to ICRC visits," he said.
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- The agency, which is the internationally-recognised guardian
of the Geneva Conventions, has asked for access to the former president
since his capture by US forces on December 14, Mr Westphal said, without
elaborating.
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- The ICRC was merely following its mandate with regards
to seeking access to all detained people, he explained.
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- "There are a number of different factors which can
have an influence on each individual case. The general idea is that it
should happen as soon as possible," Mr Westphal said.
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- The ICRC is working under the assumption that Saddam
Hussein is a prisoner of war and therefore protected by the third Geneva
Convention, which details minimum standards of humane treatment, underlining
the responsibility of the "detaining power", in this case the
United States.
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- It says that prisoners are only bound to give their name,
rank, date of birth and equivalent information, and forbids physical or
mental torture, or "any other form of coercion ... to secure from
them any kind of information whatever".
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- "Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be
threatened, insulted or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment
of any kind", the convention adds.
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- © 2003 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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- http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1018323.htm
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