Ramirez, left, Stone and Gonzalez  ALSO: The Geneva Conventions: Prisoners of war NATO bombs hit TV transmission site Albanian Americans prepare for Kosovar relatives U.S. Apache helicopter crashes in Albania Red Cross sees captured U.S. soldiers  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo

April 27, 1999
Web posted at: 10:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT)

GENEVA (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers, captured by Yugoslav forces nearly a month ago and not seen in public since, received their first medical checkup from a Red Cross doctor on Tuesday, but a Red Cross spokesman told CNN he was unable to divulge what condition the servicemen are in.

"According to the Geneva Conventions we're not allowed to do that," said Chris Bowers of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"The visit has to remain in strict confidentiality, although, of course, we will send a report of the visit to the Yugoslav authorities and the American authorities," he told CNN by telephone from Switzerland.

On Monday, ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga headed a delegation that spent about 15 minutes with the three prisoners of war. There was no doctor to provide a medical evaluation but Pentagon officials said they were told the three servicemen were in "reasonably good" shape.

Yugoslav officials were present for Monday's meeting. Bowers said the Red Cross visit on Tuesday was private.

Shortly after their March 31 capture near the Macedonia border, the three soldiers were shown on Serb TV with cuts and bruised faces.

Until Monday, the ICRC had been denied access to the soldiers: Staff Sgt. Andrew Ramirez, 24, of Los Angeles; Spc. Steven Gonzalez, 21, of Huntsville, Texas; and Staff Sgt. Christopher Stone, 25, of Smiths Creek, Michigan.

The United States has accused Yugoslavia of denying the soldiers their rights under the Geneva Conventions, which recognize the right of the ICRC to visit prisoners of war.

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