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CNN Sunday Morning

Rumsfeld to Cuba with Senators

Aired January 27, 2002 - 10:10   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will arrive at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba for a tour of the facilities where Afghan war detainees are being held. Rumsfeld is being accompanied by four U.S. Senators. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon. She has more on that from there. Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. This will be the Defense Secretary's first chance to see for himself just how these 158 detainees are being treated. Of course, the Pentagon has been on the defensive regarding their treatment, pretty much since they arrived.

That criticism reached a crescendo this week, when a British newspaper ran a photo of some of the detainees under the headline "Tortured" and that of course came on top of earlier complaints from human rights organizations and U.S. allies that these detainees may be being mistreated.

Secretary Rumsfeld himself, throughout all this, has insisted that their treatment is proper, humane, appropriate, and in keeping with international conventions, and the Pentagon has argued that the men are unlawful combatants, and therefore not prisoners of war, not due the treatment the prisoners of war are.

As to the fact that these prisoners are restrained when they are outside their cells, and the Defense Secretary has insisted that they are dangerous men who require heavy security. Some, if you recall, who have even threatened to kill an American before they leave Guantanmo Bay.

As to what the Secretary will see when he arrives, you can see there on the screen, the cells that the men are being held in are 8 x 8 chain link cells. They receive culturally appropriate meals, medical treatment. They are allowed to pray several times a day. They have even been assigned their own Muslim cleric.

A U.S. Congressional delegation, the very first one to visit Camp X-Ray was there on Friday, and lawmakers said they believe that the detainees were being treated well. As a matter of fact, one Congressman quipped that he believed that they were getting better food than some senior citizens in his district had, and even better medical treatment than some U.S. veterans. Now the Defense Secretary, while he is there at Camp X-Ray today, will be of course getting a look at the conditions, talking with the commander of the base, and talking with U.S. forces there, and getting a firsthand look at how things are going. Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

KOCH: You're welcome.

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