His Excellency The Honourable Mr William Farish

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Embassy of the United States of America

24 Grosvenor Square

London

W1A 1AE







10 March 2002





Your Excellency,


Conditions of imprisonment of prisoners in area under US control


I am concerned about recent reports of detention and torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of non-US nationals by the USA in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In particular, I urge you to provide guarantees that:



1. No US Government agency will use torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, (including the use of sodium pentothal, sensory deprivation, the size of detainee’s cells, and the forcible shaving of detainee’s beards), to extract information or confessions from suspects or to intimidate or humiliate them;

2. All detainees will be given immediate access to legal representation and to be accorded full fair trial rights in line with US obligations under international standards, that no detainee will be brought before special military tribunals and that there will be no recourse to the death penalty;

3. If there is any dispute about the status of alleged Al-Queda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Camp X-Ray, the US will allow a “competent tribunal” to decide their status, as required by Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention.



I look forward to hearing from you with your comments on the above.



Yours faithfully,