Human rights report criticizes U-S policies at Guantanamo Bay

London-AP, 26 January 2004

A report from Human Rights Watch accuses the U-S of applying "war rules" to the struggle against global terror -- and denying suspects their rights. The nonprofit group suggests "police rules" would be more appropriate for cases like the 660 terror suspects held at the U-S naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The report says the Bush administration sees itself as "above the law."

The group's executive director says the power to hold prisoners until the end of a war and to "shoot to kill" are normally used only in conventional wars. He says the Bush administration feels entitled to those powers globally -- and that's dangerous.

The U-S government says lengthy detentions are vital to intelligence gathering. And it says information gleaned from prisoners has led to arrests around the world.

Read the report here.