Untangling the legalities in a name

The detention by the US of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has become controversial in both foreign capitals and Washington itself. Currently the Bush administration is calling the prisoners "unlawful combatants," an ill-defined category which allows the US wide latitude in how to handle them. Some US allies, however, are arguing that the detainees should be granted prisoner-of-war status, and the full protection of the Geneva Conventions.

The US has flown 158 prisoners captured in Afghanistan to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Transport of an additional 270 prisoners is on hold pending the construction of more permanent detention facilities.

Only about 15 percent of the prisoners are Afghans. The rest are from 25 different nations, which the Department of Defense has so far declined to specify. Countries whose officials have said their citizens are being detained include Britain, Sweden, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, France, and Australia.

It is likely that the detainees include both Al Qaeda followers of Osama bin Laden and the soldiers of Afghanistan's now-toppled Taliban regime. The Miami Herald, for instance, has reported that the Taliban Army chief of staff is among those already at Guantanamo.

Widely-distributed photos of shackled detainees kneeling upon their arrival in Cuba caused an uproar in Europe. Some allies questioned whether the US was engaging in psychological or even physical torture.

The Bush administration vehemently denies this. All detainees are being treated humanely, administration officials say. They are being fed properly, provided with medical care, and allowed to practice their religion. They can send and receive correspondence.

But they are not prisoners-of-war, according to the administration. Classifying them as such might hinder the ability of the US to head off future terrorist attacks.

Instead, the US is officially calling the detainees "unlawful combatants," a label historically given to saboteurs, mercenaries, and spies.

As defined by the Geneva Convention of 1949, a prisoner-of-war is a soldier of a national force captured during combat. Such a prisoner must have carried arms openly, been part of a recognized hierarchy, and conducted operations in accordance with thelaws and customs of war.

Under interrogation, POWs need disclose only their name, rank, serial number, and date of birth. They must be released upon cessation of hostilities.

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