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American Morning
ICRC Representatives Visit Saddam in Iraq
Aired February 23, 2004 - 07:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For the first time since he was captured in December, Saddam Hussein has been allowed to have visitors. Two members of the International Red Cross met with Saddam on Saturday in his cell at an undisclosed location in Iraq.
Joining us this morning from Amman, Jordan, to talk about that visit is Nada Doumani. She's a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Nice to see you, Ms. Doumani. Thank you very much for being with us.
NADA DOUMANI, SPOKESWOMAN, INTL. CMTE. OF THE RED CROSS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: I know that there are lots of details that you cannot get into, but give me a sense of what the overall purpose for the visit to Saddam Hussein was.
DOUMANI: Well, as is the case for all visits to detainees, the purpose is to monitor the conditions of detention, to see to it that he -- any detainee, be it a POW or a civilian, is treated according to the Geneva conventions, to check his health situation among others, and also to give him the possibility to write a message to his family, which the former president did.
O'BRIEN: He's been in custody for two months. Why did it take so long to put this visit together? Or is that sort of a standard amount of time?
DOUMANI: No, that's not really a standard amount of time. In fact, it took some time to work out the practicalities of the visit with the retaining authority of the coalition forces. And we hope -- I mean, we do want to repeat this visit regularly, and hopefully it will take place soon, but we don't know yet the further dates.
O'BRIEN: What can you tell me about this visit? I've read that it was a doctor and some others as well. Does that mean family members were included? Does that mean members of the U.S. military forces were included in that visit?
DOUMANI: No, not at all. The standard procedure for the IRC is to visit detainees. That's only the IRC delegates, International Red Cross delegates. One of them, as you mentioned, was a doctor, and the other one is a person who normally visits detainees. And both of them are part of the usual visiting team in Iraq, which regularly visits other detainees also in Iraq. Of course, there was no witness during this visit, meaning that we talk individually. We talked individually with the former president and on very different issues, and we got enough time to get the comprehensive view of what his conditions are.
O'BRIEN: Saddam Hussein...
DOUMANI: No member of the family was present (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: I see. Saddam Hussein, as you mentioned, wrote a letter to be delivered to his family. Who specifically was it addressed to? And how long do you expect it will be before that person has that letter?
DOUMANI: Well, it was to one member of his close family -- I mean, a close member in his family. I cannot disclose the name because of privacy. And this message, which a Red Cross message, will go through the censorship, is going now through the censorship by the U.S. authorities. And once it's over, we will give it -- the IRC will deliver it to the family.
O'BRIEN: Were Saddam Hussein family members allowed in turn...
DOUMANI: That is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) procedure, by the way.
O'BRIEN: It is? Well, were Saddam Hussein's family members allowed in turn to deliver a letter to him that you could take or your members of your team could take to him on the visit?
DOUMANI: Absolutely, they can do that. This is also part -- this is also specified in the conventions. However, they didn't do it this time. Maybe for the next visit we'll be able to deliver a message from his family to Saddam Hussein.
O'BRIEN: You talk about the next visit. When do you expect that will be?
DOUMANI: The date hasn't been set yet, but it's obvious that we have to repeat regular visits to people, as long as they are in detention in order to ensure the follow-up of the situation...
O'BRIEN: And as you mentioned...
DOUMANI: ... and of the conditions and the treatment.
O'BRIEN: ... Saddam Hussein and 10,000 other detainees have been visited by the members of the International Red Cross. Nada Doumani joining us this morning. Thank you for your time. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 23, 2004 - 07:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For the first time since he was captured in December, Saddam Hussein has been allowed to have visitors. Two members of the International Red Cross met with Saddam on Saturday in his cell at an undisclosed location in Iraq.
Joining us this morning from Amman, Jordan, to talk about that visit is Nada Doumani. She's a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Nice to see you, Ms. Doumani. Thank you very much for being with us.
NADA DOUMANI, SPOKESWOMAN, INTL. CMTE. OF THE RED CROSS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: I know that there are lots of details that you cannot get into, but give me a sense of what the overall purpose for the visit to Saddam Hussein was.
DOUMANI: Well, as is the case for all visits to detainees, the purpose is to monitor the conditions of detention, to see to it that he -- any detainee, be it a POW or a civilian, is treated according to the Geneva conventions, to check his health situation among others, and also to give him the possibility to write a message to his family, which the former president did.
O'BRIEN: He's been in custody for two months. Why did it take so long to put this visit together? Or is that sort of a standard amount of time?
DOUMANI: No, that's not really a standard amount of time. In fact, it took some time to work out the practicalities of the visit with the retaining authority of the coalition forces. And we hope -- I mean, we do want to repeat this visit regularly, and hopefully it will take place soon, but we don't know yet the further dates.
O'BRIEN: What can you tell me about this visit? I've read that it was a doctor and some others as well. Does that mean family members were included? Does that mean members of the U.S. military forces were included in that visit?
DOUMANI: No, not at all. The standard procedure for the IRC is to visit detainees. That's only the IRC delegates, International Red Cross delegates. One of them, as you mentioned, was a doctor, and the other one is a person who normally visits detainees. And both of them are part of the usual visiting team in Iraq, which regularly visits other detainees also in Iraq. Of course, there was no witness during this visit, meaning that we talk individually. We talked individually with the former president and on very different issues, and we got enough time to get the comprehensive view of what his conditions are.
O'BRIEN: Saddam Hussein...
DOUMANI: No member of the family was present (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: I see. Saddam Hussein, as you mentioned, wrote a letter to be delivered to his family. Who specifically was it addressed to? And how long do you expect it will be before that person has that letter?
DOUMANI: Well, it was to one member of his close family -- I mean, a close member in his family. I cannot disclose the name because of privacy. And this message, which a Red Cross message, will go through the censorship, is going now through the censorship by the U.S. authorities. And once it's over, we will give it -- the IRC will deliver it to the family.
O'BRIEN: Were Saddam Hussein family members allowed in turn...
DOUMANI: That is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) procedure, by the way.
O'BRIEN: It is? Well, were Saddam Hussein's family members allowed in turn to deliver a letter to him that you could take or your members of your team could take to him on the visit?
DOUMANI: Absolutely, they can do that. This is also part -- this is also specified in the conventions. However, they didn't do it this time. Maybe for the next visit we'll be able to deliver a message from his family to Saddam Hussein.
O'BRIEN: You talk about the next visit. When do you expect that will be?
DOUMANI: The date hasn't been set yet, but it's obvious that we have to repeat regular visits to people, as long as they are in detention in order to ensure the follow-up of the situation...
O'BRIEN: And as you mentioned...
DOUMANI: ... and of the conditions and the treatment.
O'BRIEN: ... Saddam Hussein and 10,000 other detainees have been visited by the members of the International Red Cross. Nada Doumani joining us this morning. Thank you for your time. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
