Amnesty seek access to Cuba captives

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Amnesty International today requested access to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp amid fears the al Qaida suspects held there were being subjected to techniques to "break" their spirit prior to interrogation.

The human rights group said it was alarmed at the veil of secrecy surrounding the prisoners at the maximum security United States centre in Cuba.

At its London headquarters, Amnesty said it had decades of experience learning about the treatment of prisoners and techniques for eliciting information.

Referring to photographs of the detainees manacled and deprived of sight, hearing, touch and smell, the charity's director of research, Claudio Cordone, said: "The imposition of sensory depravation bears the hallmarks of known methods to break prisoners prior to interrogation."

Approximately 160 men have so far been flown to the detention centre out of some 4,800 prisoners in Afghanistan being held by the United States and allied forces, he said.

"While there are legitimate security considerations with regard to the dangers they may pose, we feel the measures adopted in their regard, to the extent they are known, go well beyond what is necessary from a security point of view."

Amnesty's medical expert, Jim Welsh, said he was particularly concerned about reports that the detainees had had their hair and beard shaved off, particularly as they were Muslim.

He said: "It is one of the techniques used in various countries to strip away the dignity of the prisoners.

"Shaven heads and hoods are used to disorientate detainees and soften them up for interrogation."

He added: "Hair and beard cuttings, ear cuffing and blindfolding appear excessive to security requirements while at the same time dehumanising detainees."

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