ISN SECURITY WATCH (20/05/05) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday that it had warned Washington about “credible” reports that interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay military prison were desecrating the Koran long before Newsweek published its controversial report, which was later retracted amid government pressure.
An ICRC spokesman told reporters on Thursday that the group had warned US officials of allegations made by detainees between 2002 and 2003 that US military personnel were desecrating the Koran to insult the Muslim prisoners there.
Spokesman Richard Boucher acknowledged on Thursday that the ICRC had warned the US State Department of the allegations, and that the Pentagon had responded to the warnings in 2003 by issuing strict guidelines on the treatment of the Muslim holy book by US military personnel, CNN reported. But ICRC spokesman Simon Schorno said the allegations had continued after the issuing of the guidelines.
“We have very extensive guidelines about how Korans are to be handled, who they're to be handled by, the wearing of gloves, how they’re to be moved and transported, in order to ensure that no such concerns will arise,” Boucher told reporters.
Schorno said the ICRC felt the allegations were “credible”, and had formally documented them as such.
The Human Rights Watch group also said it had received reports from Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay that US interrogators had repeatedly desecrated the Muslim holy book.
The ICRC statement comes just after Newsweek magazine retracted a 9 May report that detailed the allegations, citing one source as saying that US military personnel had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet while interrogating Muslim prisoners.
The Newsweek report led to violent anti-US riots in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and other Muslim countries that resulted in at least 17 deaths. Under pressure from Washington, Newsweek apologized from some apparent inaccuracies in the report and retracted the story.
But Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker’s apology on Sunday was not sufficient for Washington, which requested an apology for and retraction of the entire report.
The Pentagon launched an investigation into the allegations of abuse of the Koran after the story appeared, but the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Meyers, said investigators had been unable to substantiate the allegations.
Whitaker said he had asked two Defense Department officials for comments on the report before it went to press, and that one had declined to respond, while the other had made comments about another aspect of the story without querying the Koran charges.
Newsweek said that only a single source was used for the information involving the Koran flushing allegation in the article, and that the government source backtracked on his former statement after the article was published, saying he wasn’t sure if it had really happened.
Many Afghans reportedly remain skeptical over the retraction, believing the story was only retracted under US government pressure and not over the inaccuracy of its content.
An ICRC spokesman told reporters on Thursday that the group had warned US officials of allegations made by detainees between 2002 and 2003 that US military personnel were desecrating the Koran to insult the Muslim prisoners there.
Spokesman Richard Boucher acknowledged on Thursday that the ICRC had warned the US State Department of the allegations, and that the Pentagon had responded to the warnings in 2003 by issuing strict guidelines on the treatment of the Muslim holy book by US military personnel, CNN reported. But ICRC spokesman Simon Schorno said the allegations had continued after the issuing of the guidelines.
“We have very extensive guidelines about how Korans are to be handled, who they're to be handled by, the wearing of gloves, how they’re to be moved and transported, in order to ensure that no such concerns will arise,” Boucher told reporters.
Schorno said the ICRC felt the allegations were “credible”, and had formally documented them as such.
The Human Rights Watch group also said it had received reports from Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay that US interrogators had repeatedly desecrated the Muslim holy book.
The ICRC statement comes just after Newsweek magazine retracted a 9 May report that detailed the allegations, citing one source as saying that US military personnel had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet while interrogating Muslim prisoners.
The Newsweek report led to violent anti-US riots in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and other Muslim countries that resulted in at least 17 deaths. Under pressure from Washington, Newsweek apologized from some apparent inaccuracies in the report and retracted the story.
But Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker’s apology on Sunday was not sufficient for Washington, which requested an apology for and retraction of the entire report.
The Pentagon launched an investigation into the allegations of abuse of the Koran after the story appeared, but the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Meyers, said investigators had been unable to substantiate the allegations.
Whitaker said he had asked two Defense Department officials for comments on the report before it went to press, and that one had declined to respond, while the other had made comments about another aspect of the story without querying the Koran charges.
Newsweek said that only a single source was used for the information involving the Koran flushing allegation in the article, and that the government source backtracked on his former statement after the article was published, saying he wasn’t sure if it had really happened.
Many Afghans reportedly remain skeptical over the retraction, believing the story was only retracted under US government pressure and not over the inaccuracy of its content.
