World churches issue protest over Guantanamo prisoners

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has accused the Bush administration of violating international law in its treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo naval base. In a statement, the churches say the detainees "are held without due process and totally in violation of norms and standards of International Humanitarian Law and human rights". The statement refers to 600 foreign prisoners arrested in connection to the war on terror announced in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre. It has also been undersigned by the National Council of Churches (NCC) in the United States, uniting 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Afro-American denominations. The churches ask Washington for the authorization to send an NCC representative to visit the Guantanamo detainees. The WCC has asked that all churches belonging to the organization inform their members about the abuses it alleges are being committed by the US administration against the prisoners and to sensitize them concerning the situation in Iraq. Asking for for the departure of foreign troops from Iraq, it concludes: "Heads of State using false terrorism or weapons of mass destruction pretexts to start a war will be judged by history". Source: MISNA