Amnesty International calls on EU to urge US to shut Guantanamo
Regional-USA, Politics, 5/1/2007

The European Union should use Monday's summit in Washington to urge the US to shut down Guantanamo Bay and put an end to CIA renditions, the Brussels-based "EU observer.com" reported quoting a leading NGO.

"The EU gains nothing by shying away from these questions, at home as well as abroad. It does not gain the respect of the United States and certainly not that of its citizens," Amnesty International Europe director Dick Oosting said, urging western democracies to respect their own "basic" rules.

NGOs have been lobbying for EU action against US extra-judicial or quasi-judicial detention for years, but the Guantanamo Bay prison camp - which houses up to 400 inmates - has remained open since 2002, with US authorities recently proposing to limit prisoners' rights still further.

This month the US justice department requested a federal court to limit lawyers' access to their clients saying legal staff pass information to the media, provoking hunger strikes and other forms of unrest.

In February, the European parliament released a 77-page report, based on a year-long investigation, accusing the US of using rendition as an "illegal instrument" and charging 14 EU states of collusion with the CIA rendition.

The EU-US summit will discuss international issues such as Iran, the Middle East, Kosovo, Darfur, as well the growing friction in the West's ties with Russia.

Previous Stories:
  FBI report confirms abuse of Guantanamo detainees   (1/6/2007)
  Guantanamo prisoner transfers coordinated in Germany: US army   (12/16/2006)
  Two British Muslims lose appeal against extradition to US   (12/2/2006)

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