THE US yesterday defended its jailing of juvenile "enemy combatants" in the controversial terrorist facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Several youths under 16, captured during the war in Afghanistan, have been held at the Camp Delta detention facility for several months without legal access or protection under the Geneva Convention.
The existence of the child detainees, first revealed by The Courier-Mail this week, has sparked worldwide outrage and accusations the US may have violated basic human rights standards.
It is believed the detainees, some as young as 13, have been housed in open air iron cages for several months before being moved to a lower security wing within the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Many of the estimated 660 detainees, suspected of links with the Taliban and or Al-Qaeda networks, have been held and interrogated in Guantanamo since January last year.
Military officials have also indicated some of the detainees will soon face trial on war crimes charges before military tribunals.
Guantanamo Bay base commander Major General Geoffrey Miller said preparations had been made to conduct the hearings in Cuba.
"We have very detailed plans should we be instructed to hold the tribunals," he said.
One senior officer confirmed reports in the US the hearings were imminent, saying they would begin "sooner rather than later".
Amnesty International yesterday said the juvenile detainees should be charged or released.
New York-based child advocacy group, the Rights Monitor, said it was a "disgrace" the child detainees had not already been given legal access.
"If these children have committed offences, they should be provided with counsel and adjudicated in accordance with standards of juvenile justice," director Jo Becker said.
"Otherwise they should be released immediately."
Ms Becker pointed out that US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had once described those detained in Guantanamo as part of the US war on terrorism as the "worst of the worst".
"It's hard to believe that a child of 13 could fit that category," she said.
But a Pentagon spokeswoman said age was not really the issue.
"The point is they are enemy combatants," the spokeswoman said. "Their age is really not a factor in their detention.
"They are detained at Guantanamo for a reason."
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Several youths under 16, captured during the war in Afghanistan, have been held at the Camp Delta detention facility for several months without legal access or protection under the Geneva Convention.
The existence of the child detainees, first revealed by The Courier-Mail this week, has sparked worldwide outrage and accusations the US may have violated basic human rights standards.
It is believed the detainees, some as young as 13, have been housed in open air iron cages for several months before being moved to a lower security wing within the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Many of the estimated 660 detainees, suspected of links with the Taliban and or Al-Qaeda networks, have been held and interrogated in Guantanamo since January last year.
Military officials have also indicated some of the detainees will soon face trial on war crimes charges before military tribunals.
Guantanamo Bay base commander Major General Geoffrey Miller said preparations had been made to conduct the hearings in Cuba.
"We have very detailed plans should we be instructed to hold the tribunals," he said.
One senior officer confirmed reports in the US the hearings were imminent, saying they would begin "sooner rather than later".
Amnesty International yesterday said the juvenile detainees should be charged or released.
New York-based child advocacy group, the Rights Monitor, said it was a "disgrace" the child detainees had not already been given legal access.
"If these children have committed offences, they should be provided with counsel and adjudicated in accordance with standards of juvenile justice," director Jo Becker said.
"Otherwise they should be released immediately."
Ms Becker pointed out that US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had once described those detained in Guantanamo as part of the US war on terrorism as the "worst of the worst".
"It's hard to believe that a child of 13 could fit that category," she said.
But a Pentagon spokeswoman said age was not really the issue.
"The point is they are enemy combatants," the spokeswoman said. "Their age is really not a factor in their detention.
"They are detained at Guantanamo for a reason."
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