Minister, U.S. officials consider Iraqi detainees in Gitmo

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salem discussed with several officials of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington the issue of Iraqi detainees in Guantanamo detention camp in Cuba, according to a ministry release on Sunday. “The two sides discussed issues of common interest, including Iraqis detained in Guantanamo, the strategy of a program to maintain the rule of law and rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents as well as setting up a legal center concerned with the families of victims of terrorist operations,” read the release as received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “Minister Salem has met with the U.S. secretary of state’s international relations advisor and agreed together to set up a legal center within the Iraqi ministry to offer legal assistance for disadvantaged categories in addition to programs to provide care for Iraqi women and children,” added the release. The Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp is a prison operated by Joint Task Force Guantánamo of the United States government since 1987 in Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, which is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The detainment areas consists of three camps in the base: Camp Delta (which includes Camp Echo), Camp Iguana and Camp X-Ray (which has been closed). The facility is often referred to as the Guantánamo, or Gitmo. The detainees currently held as of June 2008 have been classified by the United States as “enemy combatants”. AmR (S) 1