Lawmakers tour Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- American lawmakers on Saturday toured the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists for the first time since recent harsh condemnation of Guantanamo detainees' treatment and renewed demands that the camp close.

Lawmakers from both parties fear that the prison at the U.S. Navy base has become an image problem because of claims that U.S. interrogators abuse and torture inmates.

The chairman of the House committee, Rep. Duncan Hunter, said such criticism amounted to "wild accusations." Hunter, R-Calif., blamed "propagandists" for spreading "rumor and innuendo" to hurt the United States. He said the congressional visit was meant to show "the facts" about operations at the prison.

A few reporters and photographers accompanied the lawmakers. Military escorts controlled what the journalists could see and hear.

On a tour of one camp occupied by detainees considered "high value" for providing intelligence, journalists did not see any prisoners and watched as troops passed meals through small cells on one block.

Under mounting criticism about the prison, the White House and Pentagon have defended almost daily the conditions and treatment of detainees.

At a recent news conference, President Bush went so far as to invite journalists to see the prison and see that the allegations were false. Since the prison opened, the Pentagon says about 400 news organizations have toured it. It usually takes a few months to get in because of short staffing and many requests.

\Human rights investigators for the United Nations urged the U.S. last week to allow them inside to inspect the facility. They cited "persistent and credible" reports of "serious allegations of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees" as well as arbitrary detentions and violations of rights.

In response, Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN that the detainees are well treated, well fed and "living in the tropics."

The prison opened in January 2002 to house foreigners believed to be linked to the ousted Taliban in Afghanistan or al-Qaida.

Bush declared the detainees "enemy combatants," affording them fewer rights than prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Some detainees have been held for three years without being charged with any crimes even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled they have some rights.

An FBI report last year cited cases of aggressive interrogation techniques and detainee mistreatment.

Condemnation of Guantanamo intensified this spring after Newsweek magazine published -- and later retracted -- a story that claimed interrogators flushed the Muslim holy book down a toilet.

The Bush administration blamed the report for deadly demonstrations in Afghanistan and protests throughout the Middle East. A Pentagon investigation later disclosed five instances of U.S. guards' mishandling the Quran.

Amnesty International then branded Guantanamo "the gulag of our time," compared it with the Soviet work camps where thousands of people perished, and alleged a pattern of mistreatment similar to that at Abu Ghraib.

White House officials say there are no plans to close the facility because the detainees are too dangerous to release while the fight against terrorism continues.

About 520 prisoners are held at Guantanamo. Already, $110 million has been spent on construction at the base. The prison costs about $95 million a year to operate.

The Pentagon says the last lawmaker to visit the prison was Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., in March. Not including Saturday's trip, 11 senators and 77 representatives have toured the prison.

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On the Net:

Joint Task Force Guantanamo: http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/