Senators urge resolution on Guantanamo detainees
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The 3 senators praised "outstanding efforts" to treat detainees humanely.
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(CNN) -- Three U.S. senators who recently visited the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have asked the Bush administration to come forward with plans to try suspected al Qaeda and Taliban detainees held there or return them to their countries.
"We firmly believe it is now time to make a decision on how the United States will move forward regarding the detainees and to take that important next step," said Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona; Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina; and Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, in a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
"A serious process must be established in the very near term either to formally treat and process the detainees as war criminals or to return them to their countries for appropriate judicial action."
The camp at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay holds men detained during the war on terrorism, many of them captured during U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. In their letter to Rumsfeld, the senators note that some of the detainees have been held for two years, prompting "a serious concern" over how their cases will be resolved.
In November 2001, President Bush signed an executive order authorizing the Pentagon to come up with a process for trying the detainees before military tribunals. Some of the detainees have been designated as being subject to trial, but no trials have been held.
The continued detentions have been a source of tension between the United States and two key allies in the war on terrorism, Britain and Australia.
Britons and Australians are among those held without trial at Guantanamo, and the London and Canberra governments have been pressing for a resolution of their cases.
Last month, the United States reached an agreement with Australia to allow one of its two detainees to escape the death penalty, if tried and convicted, and to serve his sentence in Australia. (Full story)
McCain, Graham and Cantwell asked Rumsfeld to state specifically when the trial process will begin and how it will work.
While raising questions about the status of the detainees, the senators said their visit showed them that the conditions under which the detainees are being held are consistent with the Geneva Conventions.
"We commend you on the outstanding efforts taken thus far to treat all individuals detained at Guantanamo humanely," the senators said. "We are particularly impressed by the professionalism of our military personnel."
