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Red Cross to Assess POWs

Aired March 26, 2003 - 13:17   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, ANCHOR: We've been telling you about a missile strike in Baghdad, an alleged cruise missile strike in Baghdad that the Iraqis are saying killed 14 civilians and wounded 30 others.
With us now on the telephone from Baghdad is Roland Huguenin- Benjamin with the International Red Cross in Baghdad.

Mr. Benjamin, are you there, first of all?

ROLAND HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Yes, I'm right downtown Baghdad.

WOODRUFF: What have you been able to see and understand about any casualties, as a result of what happened?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Well, I haven't been out -- off premises in the afternoon after that happened. It is reported to me, of course, I heard it on international news. We will find out in the morning if there are an extra number of casualties in the hospitals that we visit from the daily basis.

The purpose of a visit is just to supply equipment according to needs of the hospitals, it's not really to investigate the nature of the wounds. The purpose of our presence here is to help people, it's not to conduct investigation.

WOODRUFF: Mr. Benjamin, I want to ask you, also, about the U.S. prisoners of war who are being held by the Iraqis. Are you going to be -- do you know yet from Iraqi authorities, are you going to be permitted to see them?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Most probably because the contacts are proceeding well.

From the onset of the conflict, it has been made clear from the ICRC to all the parties involved that in case there should be people captured, and becoming prisoners of war, from whichever side, they have basic rights that are mentioned in Geneva Conventions.

One of them -- which I have to remind here -- is that prisoners of war have to be transferred to the supervision of officers, they should not be kept under rank and file soldiers. They must be taken to a safe place away from the fighting grounds for their own safety, and they must definitely be treated humanly. Of course, the people are not in Baghdad, they have been captured in other regions. Under the current hostilities going on, it may take a day or two, or whatever, for us to also be able to move around and gain access.

But the contacts are ongoing, and as soon as it would be physically feasible, the visits are supposed to take place.

WOODRUFF: What is your understanding right now, Mr. Benjamin, of how these POWs, prisoners of war, are being -- of their condition?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Well, we have no way of commenting or assessing the situation of people we have not seen. And another thing is that in case of activities that we term as protection activities under the Geneva Convention, normally we do not comment on them publicly.

What we do is we perform the visit and we supply reports to the detaining authorities and to the authorities of origin, which is, in the case of these prisoners, a report would be submitted to the government of the coalition forces and to the Iraqi government. And it would entail comments and assessments of the current situation and, if necessary, requests for improvement or changes in any aspect of the captivity, the way it works.

We do not comment publicly on -- after the visits. Well, of course, they haven't taken place yet. Whenever they are going to take place, we do not comment publicly on them. This is policies of the Geneva Convention.

WOODRUFF: I understand. I'm talking with Roland Huguenin- Benjamin of the International Red Cross there in Baghdad to try to see the U.S. prisoners of war.

One other question, the Iraqi authorities, just to be clear, they have assured you that you will be able to see these prisoners of war?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Right from the onset of the conflict there was a formal visit by the director-general of the ICRC to Iraq. He met with the ministry of foreign affairs, and it was confirmed that in case there should be any reason to have to visit prisoners of war, this will be accepted and we could perform the visits, yes.

WOODRUFF: And how many prisoners of war, is it your understanding, are being held right now? We just want to -- go ahead.

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Well, I really wouldn't be able to comment on that. I'm myself following up on the news, of course, but there are quite a few hundred or even thousands, I don't know. Iraqis have now coalition forces and a group of Americans held by the Iraqi authorities, but I would not be able to comment or to go public on any number, just because I'm not really aware of it.

WOODRUFF: All right, OK, that's fine. According to our information, there are seven U.S. prisoners of war as of now. There are also four missing in action. But I gather you're saying that you don't have any further information on those, nor, I gather, do you have any information on some of those U.S. troops who may have been attacked or fired on, as they were surrendering.

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Yes. Of course, our officers, which we call protection delegates, our officers are in charge of that and we are in daily contact with all the parties involved who have representatives in Kuwait and we have...

WOODRUFF: All right.

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: ... liaison men in Doha in Qatar, with Central Com, and we are following up on the details of the whereabouts of the prisoners. And as soon as physically feasible, as I said earlier, we will definitely be performing the visits.

WOODRUFF: All right. We're talking on the telephone with Roland Huguenin-Benjamin, who is in Baghdad right now. He's with the International Red Cross, as you heard him say. He is expecting to speak with, to see, to visit some of the prisoner of war, including U.S. prisoners of war, in the next matter of days.

Let's go back to Wolf in Kuwait City.

BLITZER: And as you know, Judy, the U.S. Military, the central command, announcing that representatives of the Red Cross would also be allowed in the coming days to meet with Iraqi prisoners of war, more than 4,000, maybe more than 5,000 now under coalition control. We'll be monitoring that important development.

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 March 26, 2003 - 13:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, ANCHOR: We've been telling you about a missile strike in Baghdad, an alleged cruise missile strike in Baghdad that the Iraqis are saying killed 14 civilians and wounded 30 others.
With us now on the telephone from Baghdad is Roland Huguenin- Benjamin with the International Red Cross in Baghdad.

Mr. Benjamin, are you there, first of all?

ROLAND HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Yes, I'm right downtown Baghdad.

WOODRUFF: What have you been able to see and understand about any casualties, as a result of what happened?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Well, I haven't been out -- off premises in the afternoon after that happened. It is reported to me, of course, I heard it on international news. We will find out in the morning if there are an extra number of casualties in the hospitals that we visit from the daily basis.

The purpose of a visit is just to supply equipment according to needs of the hospitals, it's not really to investigate the nature of the wounds. The purpose of our presence here is to help people, it's not to conduct investigation.

WOODRUFF: Mr. Benjamin, I want to ask you, also, about the U.S. prisoners of war who are being held by the Iraqis. Are you going to be -- do you know yet from Iraqi authorities, are you going to be permitted to see them?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Most probably because the contacts are proceeding well.

From the onset of the conflict, it has been made clear from the ICRC to all the parties involved that in case there should be people captured, and becoming prisoners of war, from whichever side, they have basic rights that are mentioned in Geneva Conventions.

One of them -- which I have to remind here -- is that prisoners of war have to be transferred to the supervision of officers, they should not be kept under rank and file soldiers. They must be taken to a safe place away from the fighting grounds for their own safety, and they must definitely be treated humanly. Of course, the people are not in Baghdad, they have been captured in other regions. Under the current hostilities going on, it may take a day or two, or whatever, for us to also be able to move around and gain access.

But the contacts are ongoing, and as soon as it would be physically feasible, the visits are supposed to take place.

WOODRUFF: What is your understanding right now, Mr. Benjamin, of how these POWs, prisoners of war, are being -- of their condition?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Well, we have no way of commenting or assessing the situation of people we have not seen. And another thing is that in case of activities that we term as protection activities under the Geneva Convention, normally we do not comment on them publicly.

What we do is we perform the visit and we supply reports to the detaining authorities and to the authorities of origin, which is, in the case of these prisoners, a report would be submitted to the government of the coalition forces and to the Iraqi government. And it would entail comments and assessments of the current situation and, if necessary, requests for improvement or changes in any aspect of the captivity, the way it works.

We do not comment publicly on -- after the visits. Well, of course, they haven't taken place yet. Whenever they are going to take place, we do not comment publicly on them. This is policies of the Geneva Convention.

WOODRUFF: I understand. I'm talking with Roland Huguenin- Benjamin of the International Red Cross there in Baghdad to try to see the U.S. prisoners of war.

One other question, the Iraqi authorities, just to be clear, they have assured you that you will be able to see these prisoners of war?

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Right from the onset of the conflict there was a formal visit by the director-general of the ICRC to Iraq. He met with the ministry of foreign affairs, and it was confirmed that in case there should be any reason to have to visit prisoners of war, this will be accepted and we could perform the visits, yes.

WOODRUFF: And how many prisoners of war, is it your understanding, are being held right now? We just want to -- go ahead.

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Well, I really wouldn't be able to comment on that. I'm myself following up on the news, of course, but there are quite a few hundred or even thousands, I don't know. Iraqis have now coalition forces and a group of Americans held by the Iraqi authorities, but I would not be able to comment or to go public on any number, just because I'm not really aware of it.

WOODRUFF: All right, OK, that's fine. According to our information, there are seven U.S. prisoners of war as of now. There are also four missing in action. But I gather you're saying that you don't have any further information on those, nor, I gather, do you have any information on some of those U.S. troops who may have been attacked or fired on, as they were surrendering.

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: Yes. Of course, our officers, which we call protection delegates, our officers are in charge of that and we are in daily contact with all the parties involved who have representatives in Kuwait and we have...

WOODRUFF: All right.

HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN: ... liaison men in Doha in Qatar, with Central Com, and we are following up on the details of the whereabouts of the prisoners. And as soon as physically feasible, as I said earlier, we will definitely be performing the visits.

WOODRUFF: All right. We're talking on the telephone with Roland Huguenin-Benjamin, who is in Baghdad right now. He's with the International Red Cross, as you heard him say. He is expecting to speak with, to see, to visit some of the prisoner of war, including U.S. prisoners of war, in the next matter of days.

Let's go back to Wolf in Kuwait City.

BLITZER: And as you know, Judy, the U.S. Military, the central command, announcing that representatives of the Red Cross would also be allowed in the coming days to meet with Iraqi prisoners of war, more than 4,000, maybe more than 5,000 now under coalition control. We'll be monitoring that important development.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com