Many Guantanamo Detainees Not Tied To "Hostile Acts"
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Agence France-Presse
http://www.afp.com/english/home/

Washington (AFP)--More than half of the U.S. "war on terror" detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prison camp never committed "hostile acts" against the United States, two lawyers said in a report.

Based on an analysis of government documents regarding the more than 500 people held at the U.S. naval prison facility, lawyers Mark Denbeaux and Joshua Denbeaux estimated that 55 percent "are not determined to have committed acts against the United States or its coalition allies."

Moreover, they said that only eight percent of the detainees were characterized in the documents as Al-Qaeda fighters, while 60 "are detained merely because they are 'associated with a group or groups the (US) government asserts are terrorist organizations.'"

The lawyers, who represent two Guantanamo detainees, noted that only seven percent of the 500 detainees had been captured by U.S. and coalition forces.

Of the rest, 47 percent were turned over to the United States by Pakistan and Afghan northern coalition forces, and the captors of another 44 percent held were unknown.

The study suggests that at least some of these detainees were turned over to U.S. forces by bounty hunters and reward-seekers without verification of the detainee's status.

In the wake of the October 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, U.S. forces offered "millions of dollars" for the capture of Al-Qaeda and Taliban members.