A top US Navy officer says the Guantanamo Bay prison camp currently complies with the Geneva Conventions standards for humane treatment.
Vice Admiral Patrick Walsh led a team of investigators on a 13-day inspection of the camp. On Monday, he said he found no violations of the Geneva treaties' ban on cruel, humiliating or degrading treatment.
Patrick Walsh, vice chief of naval operations.said, "Any substantiated evidence of prohibited acts discovered in the course of the review would have warranted a finding of non-compliance with Common Article 3, we found no such evidence."
Some of the prisoners are currently not allowed to meet with other prisoners for prayer or socialization, and are kept in their cells for 23 hours a day.
Walsh said more could be done to allow detainees to socialize.
Patrick Walsh, vice chief of naval operations.said, "Why not recognize that key to the Islamic religion is being able to practice prayer as a community, the ability to interact person to person is critically important for folks to be able to socialize and to be able to be intellectually stimulated."
In one of President Barack Obama's first acts in office, he set a goal of shuttering the facility within a year.
About 240 captives remain at Guantanamo, including five accused of plotting the September 11th hijacked plane attacks. Only one has been convicted of a crime.
(CCTV February 25, 2009)
