Global briefs
IRAQ: "If we consider that the occupation ends June 30th, that would mean the end of the international armed conflict", said Nada Doumani, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Baghdad. "When the conflict ends the prisoners of war should be released, according to the Geneva conventions", she explained. "Therefore, all people detained in relation to the conflict should be released unless there are penal charges against them". According to Article 118 of the third Geneva Convention, prisoners of war should be repatriated without delay at the end of hostilities. Article 133 of the Fourth Geneva Convention says that interned civilians should also be released when the conflict ends. After the handover, detainees held by the Iraqi authorities will be subject to Iraqi law. However, prisoners who are not freed because they face penal charges will remain under the protection of the Geneva conventions.* * * USA: The Bush administration is forcefully promoting its anti-abortion agenda in international agencies. The US has not paid its share of funding to the UN Population Fund for almost two decades. Now the Bush administration and its right-wing fundamentalist supporters have set their sights on any agency that co-operates with the Population Fund by denying funds to groups that even discuss abortion as an option. This position has angered UN officials and family planning advocates, who have complained that advances in education and awareness on reproductive issues are being undermined by the USA, where abortion is legal.* * * UKRAINE: Two Ukrainian seamen recently freed from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have told the Ukrainian official responsible for their release that US guards at the prison treated them like "dogs", but much better than Iraqi prisoners. The two Ukrainian nationals were the captain and first mate of the tanker ship Navstar-1. They had been found guilty by an Iraqi court of attempting to smuggle 3500 tons of diesel from Iraq. They were imprisoned in October last year and released in June this year. Both reported violent and demeaning treatment by US guards. They were kept in a cell built for 20 inmates, but occupied by more than 60 Iraqis detained on a variety of charges — a mix of former Iraqi military personnel, civilians suspected of anti-American activities and common criminals. US military warders regularly used tear gas "at the slightest provocation" to control the inmates. As a result of crowded conditions, innocent prisoners repeatedly were gassed. One of the sailors showed evidence of serious lung damage, which aggravated his asthma and placed increased stress on his heart. He was also a diabetic and during his stay at Abu Ghraib he had complained of only having access to the minimum amount of insulin necessary to keep him alive. US officials gave both sailors a week's worth of medicine gratis on the day of their release.