OSCE Urges US to Declassify Guantanamo Bay Information | Voice of America - English
A day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Bush's plan to use military tribunals for terror suspects held at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Europe's top security watchdog is urging U.S.
President Bush has said he will comply with the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday that he overstepped his authority in ordering military tribunals for terrorism suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says in a report released this week that President Bush must take additional steps to strengthen global support for U.S. anti-terrorism efforts. The report by human rights representative, Belgian Senate President Anne-Marie Lizin, urges U.S. officials to declassify relevant information in the fight against terrorism and share that with the OSCE states. "That's why the decision of the Supreme Court is so important. We believe that there are informations, useful, that are not being given to the public or even to the justice system. Give them to the justice system. It will reinforce the values of anti-terrorism. Secrets are sometimes not the good way to move," she said. OSCE has also recommended that U.S. authorities transfer a number of detainees to their countries of origin as soon as possible, but to avoid sending detainees to countries where they might be tortured. The European organization has also called on authorities to make those transfers between now and December 2007. Ms. Lizin told reporters in Washington Friday the controversial Guantanamo Bay facility is tarnishing the image of the United States and damaging support for the fight against terrorism. "We hope this (report) will be listened to carefully by the American authorities. We have produced it in a way that could, if we can, help to continue anti-terrorism in a positive way. Which means positive for the whole humanity, and not for only our part of the world, and not creating absolute negative influence in the rest of the world," she said. The Guantanamo Bay report is an extension of a 2005 OSCE report that said the detention center was "ineffective" at fighting terrorism, and urged that it be closed.