U.S. Detention Policies and Procedures

MR. MACINNES: Good morning and welcome to the Foreign Press Center here in Washington, D.C. We also welcome our journalists from the New York Foreign Press Center who are joining us by digital videoconference today.

Today, we have a briefing on U.S. Detention Policy and Procedures. Our two speakers will be Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes at the Department of State, Pierre Prosper; and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Defense for Detainee Affairs, Mr. Matthew Waxman.

I would ask you to turn your cell phones off during the question and answer period. I would ask you to identify yourselves and your news organization. And keep your questions to one question, please. We expect to have a fair number of questions today, so we won't take follow-on questions -- there should be time for us to get through pretty much everyone who is here today.

Without much further ado, each of our speakers will have a short introduction and then we'll go into the question and answer session.

Thank you. Ambassador Prosper.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: Thank you. Good morning. We appreciate this opportunity to speak with you today and share some information regarding our practices and policies as it relates to detainee operations in Guantanamo.

Let me begin by announcing that yesterday we concluded the release and transfer of seven individuals from Guantanamo out of U.S. control. They are comprised of two Afghan nationals that were released back to Afghanistan; one Jordanian back to Jordan; one Sudanese to Sudan, and three Saudis to Saudi Arabia. Earlier in the week, we transferred one Moroccan to stand for investigation and prosecution, which brings the total to eight individuals.

It's important to note that these individuals are no longer within the control of the United States Government. These transfers and releases bring the total of persons transferred or released from Guantanamo Bay to approximately 242 individuals. One hundred and seventy-four of those were outright releases, 68 of those were transfers for investigation and/or prosecution as appropriate.

It's important to note that the United States wants to send home as many of these detainees as possible. But for that to occur, we must be comfortable and believe that they do not pose a threat, and if they do pose a threat, that the threat will be managed by their home government. We do not want to be in a situation where we transfer or release someone from Guantanamo and have that person go back, engage in combat and kill innocent civilians in the future.

Today, we have approximately 36 countries represented in the population in Guantanamo, a population that's a little over 500. We will continue to seek appropriate transfer assurances and understandings with countries so that we can send them home. The United States will not send anyone home to their country if we believe that it is more likely than not that the person will be subjected to torture or if the person has a well-founded fear of persecution. Any releases from the United States come about with assurances that the individual will be treated humanely, including we ask the countries to recognize their international obligation, those found within the Convention Against Torture.

In the coming weeks, I hope to travel along with Mr. Waxman to Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, two countries which have the largest populations in Guantanamo, to enter into discussions with those governments to see what we can do about possibly returning their nationals, and what can be done to control the threat that these individuals may pose.

For other detainees, the ones that remain in Guantanamo for a larger discussion of our detainee operations, Mr. Waxman will discuss. Mat.

MR. WAXMAN: Good morning. I'm Matthew Waxman, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs. My position was created about a year ago now, and I'd like to just take a couple of minutes following on Ambassador Prosper's comments to talk a little bit about what the United States Government and the Department of Defense, what kind of steps we've taken over the past year in an effort to improve detention operation.

Let me be clear from the start that the United States and its coalition partners are at war with al-Qaida and its supporters. And our detention policies flow from this stark reality. Over the past decade, these groups have declared war on us, have attacked innocent civilians, and they've struck at our capitals, our financial centers, our warships, our diplomatic posts, our military forces as well as those of our allies -- all with an intensity and a sophistication previously only achievable by powerful, organized states.

The coalition and the war on terrorism have already achieved significant successes, but we still facing significant threats. Should anyone doubt that this war is ongoing, just consider the major attacks in Bali, Madrid, Riyadh, along with the string of atrocities perpetrated by the Zarqawi network in Iraq; and of course, most recently the savage attacks in London.

With that in mind, let me review four key points about our detention policy and operations:

Point number one, as in any war, we are legally entitled to capture and hold enemy fighters until the end of hostilities. This is not a new notion, but one deeply rooted in international law. Put simply, we detain terrorists and their supporters in order to prevent them from returning to the battlefield. Indeed, some dozen or so of those released from Guantanamo to date have returned to the fight, have engaged in anti-coalition activity.

We also interrogate detainees believed to have significant intelligence. And although detainees are held pursuant to the laws of war, as enemy combatants and are not held as part of the criminal justice system, some of them will ultimately be prosecuted. As you may be aware, the Military Commission's process is expected to resume later this summer in light of the favorable decision reached in the Hamdan case, which essentially reaffirmed the President's authority to prosecute enemy combatants before a Military Commission.

Point number two, al-Qaida and Taliban detainees are not entitled to the legal status of prisoners of war. Al-Qaida is not a state, it's not a party to any convention, nor does it acknowledge or fight according to the laws of war. And Taliban forces did not conduct operations according to the laws of war and a third Geneva Convention requirement.

Point number three, although neither al-Qaida nor Taliban fighters are entitled to enemy prisoner of war status, the President has instructed that U.S. armed forces will treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of the Geneva Convention. Pursuant to these instructions, our armed forces continue to keep detainees in a safe, humane environment, provide appropriate meals, facilities, religious observances, medical and dental care, recreation, and general care and treatment above that required by law.

Finally, point number four, while on the one hand, we want to keep enemy fighters off the battlefield; on the other hand, we don't want to hold anyone unnecessarily or any longer than necessary. Therefore, the United States Government continues to release detainees, assessed as no longer constituting a significant threat; or to transfer detainees to their home countries or other countries for investigation or prosecution or under other foreign government assurances.

Ambassador Prosper just now mentioned a couple of specific cases in that regard. These are part of a number of processes that have been ongoing. To name just two, every detainee at Guantanamo received a combatant status review tribunal before a three-member board to confirm that they were properly detained as enemy combatants. In addition, the administrative review board procedure will determine annually if enemy combatants detained at Guantanamo should be released, transferred or continue to be detained at Guantanamo.

Before taking your questions, let me conclude with a few final important notes. First, over the past year, you've heard a lot and read certainly a lot about how DOD, the Department of Defense, has investigated the horrible instances of abuse at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. This has included about a dozen major investigations and reviews of detention operations worldwide.

You've also heard and read about efforts to hold individuals accountable for various acts of detainee mistreatment. To date, over 150 U.S. service members have been held accountable or are in the process of being held accountable through courts martial or administrative punishment for individual instances of misconduct.

In saying that, it's important to put these numbers in context. There have been more than 70,000 detainees at one point or another in U.S. Department of Defense control. And about 830,000 U.S. service members have been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. The vast majority of these individuals are upholding our standards and values every single day in a very demanding and dangerous environment. Any incident of mistreatment is one too many and we'll continue to do all we can to prevent it from occurring.

In that regard, rather than repeat what you've heard about these important efforts to look back at what's occurred to date, I want to note in conclusion what DOD and the rest of the United States Government is doing looking forward.

We've continued to make improvements in the way that we train and organize to handle detainees, both safely and humanely. This includes improvements to training, doctrine, and facilities. In addition, we've reorganized ourselves to better manage detention operations, including establishment of my office, the Office of Detainee Affairs within the Pentagon, and the assignment of senior commanders to oversee detention operations abroad.

And finally, we're working with the State Department to encourage and enable coalition partners to assume responsibility for keeping dangerous terrorists and enemy fighters off the battlefield. The United States is committed to maintaining a dialogue with the international community. And with that, I'm happy to take your questions.

MR. MACINNES: Thank you. Please identify yourself for questions and we'll start with -- do you need a microphone? Yes, you do need a microphone.

QUESTION: Dmitry Kirsanov, Russian News Agency, TASS. I have a question for Ambassador Prosper. Welcome back to the Foreign Press Center. Sir, I lost track of a rather contentious issue between the United States and China, for example, Guantanamo. You held, if my memory doesn't fail, 11 Chinese nationals -- Uyghurs -- at Guantanamo. And you repeatedly rejected calls from Beijing to transfer those individuals to their, back to China. I was wondering what happened to those people right now, whether this issue has been resolved?

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: Thank you. We do continue to have several ethnic Chinese Uyghurs at Guantanamo. And there are some that we would actually like to be able to release from Guantanamo. But one of the issues that we've had to look at and that we talked to the Chinese about is getting a clearer understanding of what their intentions are. What we want to be sure is that we do not send back persons who have either well-grounded fears of persecution or where the likelihood is high that they could be subjected to torture or persecution. So with all transfers, all releases, we look at these issues and if the result is that we have to maintain control or custody over individuals because of this principle that we need to uphold, then that's the case.

QUESTION: Thank you. Leigh Sales from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. My question is for Mr. Waxman. It's to do with the Military Commissions. The four cases in which people have been charged, because they're the first to come, does that mean that they are the most serious? And with those four cases, how confident are you that the evidence you've gathered will stand up? There's been some criticism in Australia over the evidence from the Australian law society saying that some of the witnesses, for example, in the David Hicks case have now left Guantanamo Bay and there's not much of a case against him any longer.

MR. WAXMAN: Thank you. I'm going to have to refer, for the details, back to the Department of Defense and specifically the Office of Military Commissions. You might take a look at the statement and transcript from an interview earlier this week with General Hemingway, the legal advisor to the Appointment Authority for the Military Commission. He can speak to you in some more detail about the issues that you raise.

Of course, no cases are brought forth for prosecution without strong evidence and confidence that these individuals will be prosecuted and convicted. And that remains the case for all those cases that are moving forward. But I wouldn't want to, from my point of view, I wouldn't want to speculate about specific prosecutorial decisions.

QUESTION: Gersende Rambourg from AFP. I had another question for Mr. Waxman on the Military Commissions. You said they would resume at the end of the summer. I'm guessing the appeals court decision is going to be appealed again to the Supreme Court. Is the DOD going to go forward with these commissions or -- and not wait for that to happen?

And also on the CSRT, could you just give us an update as to how many detainees have -- their status. How many detainees have determined status at this point and how many are left to go in front of these tribunals?

MR. WAXMAN: Sure. With regard to the Military Commissions and the legal questions that you ask, the Department of Defense is currently in discussions with the Department of Justice to analyze the legal ruling and determine at what point the Military Commissions specifically can begin. There are some decisions that are yet to be made regarding requests for the mandates from the lower court that put the commissions on hold, you know, at what point to request that that mandate be lifted and exactly when the Commissions' process will formally begin again.

Our best assessment is that they will be up and going some time later this summer, but the specific decisions about how the Department of Justice will request certain relief from the court, those questions remain in the hands of the Department of Justice in conjunction with the Department of Defense right now.

With regard to the CSRTs, Combatant Status Review Tribunals, all the detainees at Guantanamo have received -- have been through the CSRT process, which is a process to reconfirm, to revalidate that they are properly detained as enemy combatants. All the detainees at Guantanamo have been through that process, 38 of 500-plus detainees were determined through this formal process to no longer qualify as enemy combatants. Most of those have now been released to their home country. A few of them remain at Guantanamo pending final coordination with their home country.

MR. MACINNES: Thomas.

QUESTION: Thomas Gorguissian, Al Gomhouria, Egypt. My question for Mr. Prosper is regarding the Egyptian cases. Can you elaborate a little bit what is the status of that? What kind of contacts the Egyptian Government or others are having with you?

And regarding these home countries, whether it's Egypt or Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, when you say we are concerned -- you are concerned about how they are treated later, I mean, how you evaluate this measure?

And regarding Mr. Waxman, you mentioned that since 9/11 there are 70,000 people [in detention] and in the last few months always, you are talking about 500 people. What happened to the rest? Where are there? Can you give us a -- figure out how -- what these people, where are jailed, or what they are doing or they are released or not? Thank you.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: Thank you. Regarding the Egyptians, we are in constant communication with the Egyptian Government regarding the fate of their nationals.

Part of those discussions are -- is twofold: one, logistics to try to send a few individuals home that no longer pose a threat and we think we've actually been able to work through some of the logistical requirements; the other is there are some that continue to pose a threat and we feel that it's important that before we send them back to Egypt, we've reached a common understanding of what assurances are required. That includes assurances such as whether or not they'll be investigated and prosecuted as a way of taking them off the streets, if you will, removing a threat. Will they be monitored if they are roaming freely within Egypt?

And another portion of that is, obviously, how they'll be treated. We are obligated by law to ensure that when we send people back that they will be treated humanely and it's also a policy principle that the President has put out. So we want to be sure when we engage with Egypt or other countries that we understand exactly what we're talking about.

We talk also about what the follow-on will be. And in these cases, we request of these countries of all countries, the ability to have access as appropriate so that we can continue not only our law enforcement type of effort, but as a way of ensuring that the assurances that have been agreed to continue to be honored by both parties. It is one of those things that we do. And the idea is we're in it together, it's a partnership, so we look at this idea through a partnership approach and reach a common understanding.

QUESTION: Do you have any numbers? Four? Seven? Some people are saying you have four people there. Some people say seven, some say ten.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: The, you know, we don't like to get into the specific numbers. But I think if you hang around the -- the four figure, you're warm.

(Laughter.)

MR. WAXMAN: And if I can just make a point. I mentioned the number 70,000 in order to emphasize the scale of the issue worldwide. And let me use that to make a further point that the majority of those 70,000, many of those were released soon after as appropriate. As I said before, we don't want to hold anyone longer than necessary. It's a balance that on the one hand, we need to maintain security and prevent individuals from returning to the battlefield. On the other hand, we don't want to hold anybody longer than necessary. And the way that that's balanced is by putting in place rigorous review procedures.

To return to the numbers at Guantanamo, that's a perfect example. Of the detainees, of the individuals who have been captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the global war on terrorism, only a small fraction of that total was ever brought to Guantanamo. And at its height, a little over 750 detainees were at Guantanamo. Since that time, about 240 have been released or transferred. And currently there are about 510 at Guantanamo.

QUESTION: Yes, sir. Mr. Prosper, I mean, just concerning the state of the detainees in Guantanamo, I've been one of a lot of reporters who went there. And there have been, like complaints, even by human rights group that some of them are kept in almost solitary confinement condition there. Officers there told us that they allowed them five minutes a day and this is a kind of a reward, you know, in case of compliance.

And also, I mean, since you've mentioned that 38 of the people who are there were not proved to be enemy combatants, how can they seek a kind of, you know, appeal for your decision to keep them for over three years after it proved that your initial assessment concerning them proved to be false, that they are not enemy combatants? Thank you.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: Okay. I think it's important to recognize that there are several checks and balances within the system. The Combatant Status Review Tribunal, which Mr. Waxman just spoke about, is one of them. It's a way of having a fresh review of the facts to determine whether the persons should still remain within Guantanamo. There's also this annual review board that will examine the case of each individual at least once a year to determine whether or not the person is still required or should remain in Guantanamo.

Another check, which I think is important, which a lot of people don't recognize, is that for each detainee, their home country has the opportunity and even has visited Guantanamo. We do this together with them. They assess the facts. They look at the surrounding circumstances relating to the capture, detention of the individual, the threat that they either posed in the past or in the future. We then sit down with them and together work on this particular case and determine what the best plan is, whether the person should remain in Guantanamo, whether they can be release outright or whether they can go home for some sort of detention and/or prosecution.

So there are mechanisms in place. We also do things outside of the process in a sense where we look at the cases in general, just to see is there a way to continue to stimulate the movement of detainees to find a way to transfer them home. Because again, the bottom line is we would prefer to not have these individuals in Guantanamo. We would prefer to be able to release them if they no longer pose a threat or even send them home, so that their home government not only take the responsibility; but help carry some of the burden that is associated with the war on terror. So I think with those guiding principles, it is in our interest to move as many people out of Guantanamo as the security situation permits.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: Oh, I have to say this, the confinement. You know, I think, you know, that's something where either, you know, Mr. Waxman can answer or the people in Guantanamo can answer. But one way to look at this is it is a detention facility and when you're dealing with detention facilities, be it locally and, for example, here in the United States, our state penitentiaries, our state prisons, facilities in any other country, the guards of the prison or the commanders of these institutions need to have the ability to maintain an internal secure environment. And what that means is in some cases you can have detainees or prisoners roam freely and mingle among the population, and in some cases you have to put the person in a more confined setting where it's a means of controlling the threat that they pose, not only for the safety of the guard, but also the safety of the other detainees and the other persons that are being confined.

So I think by having persons that have different regiments within a detention facility is not something that is unique to Guantanamo. It's not unusual. It happens in our state and federal prisons here in the United States and it happens in prisons and detention facilities worldwide.

MR. WAXMAN: And actually, can I just make one other point on that is it's important to keep in mind who we have at Guantanamo. This is not your standard detention facility population.

QUESTION: Some of them are kids, you know, (inaudible) two kids.

MR. WAXMAN: There's nobody at Guantanamo under the age of 18. There were some individuals there who were and they were handled in a separate facility where they could receive special treatment in light of the fact that they were juveniles. But I think you're actually asking the wrong question. I mean, the question that we should be asking is: Why is it that al-Qaida and the Taliban are recruiting juveniles to commit hostile acts?

With regard to your question, though, about solitary confinement, let me emphasize the lengths to which our forces at Guantanamo go to provide for the safe and humane treatment, including outstanding medical care that includes care comparable to that that our own troops receive there. And as part of this we take mental health extremely seriously and are working right now actually to expand the facilities in order to deliver even better psychiatric care for some of the detainees at Guantanamo.

QUESTION: My name is Rusen Cakir. I am from Vatan Daily Newspaper from Turkey. Mr. Ambassador, I want to ask you about this: A Turkish Foreign Minister made a declaration of (inaudible) to ask the United States to transfer two major suspect of Istanbul bombing of 2003. The name is Burhan Kus and Sadettin Akdas jailed in Abu Ghraib. What is the -- what's going on now about this demand?

And another question for Mr. Waxman about that. The Chief of Staff of Turkey, (inaudible) made an open statement that United States Administration gave a direct order to arrest some top leaders of PKK terrorist organization, based in Northern Iraq. Is it true? And if United States Army will arrest them, would they give them back to Turkey or not? Thanks.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: And just quickly on the transfer or extradition of persons that are believed to be responsible for Istanbul, you know, I don’t have the details of that particular engagement. But what I can say is we have conversations and dialogue with Turkey. We have always had them on this issue on the war on terror because, again, we believe that this is something that affects everyone and everyone has an interest.

So where -- for example, we had some Turks that were in Guantanamo and we've sent some back to Turkey. The question of those that are captured within Iraq that's another set of circumstances that we're dealing with. There are two -- when there are foreign nationals, we have to deal with the security threat. And we're also interested in what their home country or governments who have an interest in them are prepared to do.

So these dialogues are the type of dialogues, diplomatic and security engagements that we have and we're prepared to have and they continue.

MR. WAXMAN: And I'm sorry, I don't have any information on the issue that you raised.

QUESTION: Thank you. Torsten Krauel, Die Welt, Germany. There is constant talk about super secret detainee facilities for so-called "high-value targets" and they are said not to be in Guantanamo or Bagram or anywhere else. Are you aware of those facilities? And if so, are you aware of the precise number of detainees held there?

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: You know, we are fighting the war on terror and within the war on terror, it's a global operation. So what we do is, as you know, we have facilities in Guantanamo, Bagram. There are persons that are captured in Iraq that are there. Beyond that I think what I can say is we engage with all governments that are committed to fighting this war. We work with them. Obviously, they capture people. They detain people and that's something that we encourage.

There are times where we may be involved in such operations from different levels, and if we are, we talk to those countries and ask them to hold these persons under conditions that meet the principles that we discussed before.

So what I think what we can talk about here today is what we are doing in Guantanamo, what we are doing in Bagram, and what we are doing in places like Iraq.

MR. MACINNESS: Do you have a follow-up?

QUESTION: My name is Reha Atasagan and I'm with the Turkish Public Television, TRT. Here, you know, in the fact sheet I read that DOD will continue to detain those who are (inaudible) in the U.S. and our allies to prevent their return. And very recently, in a sense, no action has been taken, military or non-military, to this Kurdish terrorist organization, the PKK.

My question is do you have -- have you detained any PKK in northern Iraq? Do you have any PKK terrorists detained or did you issue any arrest warrant? And if not, why? Thank you.

MR. WAXMAN: Let me clarify. In the global war on terrorism, the United States is at war with al-Qaida and its affiliates, including the Taliban. And those are the networks, the groups to which the President's military order and our authority to detain enemy combatants extend.

In the case of Iraq, there's an overlapping legal authority, which is that pursuant to the UN Council Security Resolution 1546, as well as the laws of war, the coalition forces can detain individuals who pose certain threats to security and stability in Iraq. Those are the legal authorities under which we operate and well, I just am not going to go into specifics about who we do and don't detain under those authorities, those are the legal authorities that form the basis of our detention policy.

QUESTION: Thank you. This is Tamin Islam from the Voice of America. This is for Mr. Prosper. I'm not sure exactly if I understood this. You said that Talibans are not considered to be enemy combatants anymore. Is that correct?

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: Is there more to your question or, yes, please.

QUESTION: I'd like to know how many Taliban and Afghan nationals are in Guantanamo Bay. And how many, if they're not considered enemy combatants, does that mean that all will be released soon? And how can you be sure that they will not pose a threat in Afghanistan? Are they going to be under a sort of arrest by the Afghani Government or --

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: I've got you. As a point of clarification, we have not made a broad or blanket determination that the Taliban are not enemy combatants. But those that we are holding in Guantanamo, the Afghans continue to be viewed or perceived as enemy combatants.

When we move through a process, if we find individuals that we can say no longer are enemy combatants, based on their individual circumstances there, the fact that they've been detached from their particular group or cell or the fact that they no longer are committed to committing acts of violence, you know, then we talk about releasing them and they can move on with their lives.

But with the larger population, I can say, and again without getting into specific numbers, that we have a large number of Afghan nationals that are there and it's over 100. What we plan on doing is talking with the Afghan Government. And you know that President Karzai is very interested in finding a way to bring these nationals home. So we're going to engage in a conversation to say, in principle, we are in agreement with you. We want to find a way to bring this block of 100 or more people back to Afghanistan. But it's important that the threat that they pose or may pose be managed.

And you know Afghanistan is dealing with a lot of different issues, from the continuing war on terror, the attacks that occurred there, to the drug trafficking and so on. So we want to be sure that in bringing these folks back that they have the capacity to either hold these individuals or to follow or monitor these individuals. That is part of the conversation that we are engaged in now. We plan on doing so when we travel within the coming weeks. But, again, it's a goal to find a way, a comfortable way for all of us to send back as much of that population as we can.

MR. WAXMAN: And can I just add: You raise an important point, which is that any decision to release or transfer detainees is not without some risk. And we've seen that risk very starkly in the fact that about a dozen detainees, who we've released from Guantanamo to date, have come back to fight us again on the battlefield. These were individuals who we assessed as not constituting a significant threat, but in reality they've come back and tried to harm us again.

As I stated, we really have two priorities that we're trying to balance. On the one hand, we want to keep enemy fighters off the battlefield. On the other hand, we don't want to hold anybody any longer than necessary. And as a result, we've taken really an unprecedented step in the history of warfare of during the course of ongoing hostilities put in place processes to assess each individual and make a determination about whether they might be released or transferred.

Again, given the fact that the war on terrorism, the war against al-Qaida is not over, this is not a risk-free proposition, but we believe it's a prudent course.

QUESTION: I'm Khaled Dawoud of Al-Ahram. I just want to follow up on the Egypt question. You mentioned, sir, something of -- like you're talking about possibility. Do -- at least -- do you have any timetable, weeks, months for this?

And then, sir, just also to follow up on the German gentleman's question. People like Khalid Sheik Mohammed -- I mean, is there one day we can find out where these guys are held and how many like them are being kept somewhere under U.S. detention? Thank you.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: I think with Egypt, in the coming weeks, you should receive some information as to the disposition as to several of their nationals. I don't want to go into detail because we're still working out logistics with the government. But we're pleased that it is progressing. I think I can say that. And, again, you know, I think with all detainees, and we're not going to get specific as to their names, their fate will be determined and will be known. I think that's the best way of putting it.

And again, because we continue to fight the war on terror but we also want to find a way to work to bring it to closure. And part of that is obviously an aggressive fight to end the extremist elements from attacking civilization basically. I mean, a part of that is -- those that we have in our control, we have to find a way to bring it to a resolution. Either they can be released, returned, prosecuted or whatever the question may be. But all this will evolve and will become apparent in the future.

QUESTION: I just have a quick follow-up question on the other question. You said there were over 100 Afghans in Guantanamo and you're going to Saudi Arabia as well. Could you tell us what the number for the Saudis in Gitmo or a proportion --

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: There is, just to give you an idea of the complexities of what we're dealing with, there's over 100 in that regard as well. There's just a few countries that have such a large population within Guantanamo. After that it's, you know, one to ten or under, whatever it may be. But, you know, we've got a large group.

And you know, Saudi Arabia is a partner in the war on terror. I mean, they obviously are dealing with internal threats and difficulties, which we're supporting them in their effort. What we don't want to do, obviously, is to make their internal problems more difficult by sending a planeload, if you will, of detainees home without them being ready to deal with it and receive it. So these are the type of conversations we're having just to ensure that countries not only can manage but have the means to manage a threat that individuals may pose.

QUESTION: Oh, thank you. Yes, sir. Marjan Moolenaar, Dutch Television. Just a general question. There have been so many investigations. Is there one going on now? Is there one expected?

MR. WAXMAN: Investigations into --

QUESTION: Abu Ghraib (inaudible), detainees --

MR. WAXMAN: Let me make a couple points on that. Indeed, there have been about a dozen major investigations, reviews, and assessments of Department of Defense detention and interrogation operations conducted over the course of the past year and a half. Together they comprise an extremely comprehensive picture of what has occurred and ways in which we can improve detention operations, interrogation operations in the future.

Let me make a couple of points: One, in response to the horrible instances of detainee mistreatment that we've all seen in photographs and heard about, the Department of Defense committed to investigating the facts in a transparent way, to holding individuals accountable for instances of wrongdoing. And perhaps most importantly looking forward, taking those lessons of the past and figuring out how we can improve operations in the future.

Based on those dozen or so recommendations -- dozen or so investigations and assessments, we've compiled over 400 specific recommendations about how we can improve detention operations training, doctrines, leadership, supervision, policy. How we can work with other agencies and governments better. And we are methodically, systematically and vigorously going through those. Many of those recommendations have already been implemented and we'll continue to make improvements in the future.

As I stated to begin with, you know, any instance of detainee mistreatment is one too many. And we're looking at ways in which we can minimize the likelihood of mistreatment in the future.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR. WAXMAN: Well, let me say this. There will, unfortunately, there will always be acts of mistreatment or allegations of mistreatment and the Department of Defense is constantly investigating, whether through the chain of command or through criminal investigators, instances of either misconduct or alleged misconduct. And these will continue in the future. It's not a static process that we can declare the incident over and done. We have ongoing detention operations worldwide that are quite large and there will continue to be allegations. And it's important that we not just deal with instances in the past, but that we continue to follow up and investigate those that arise in the future.

QUESTION: I'm Tarek Rashed from Middle East News Agency. I have three questions -- small ones.

The first is, sometimes you pick some people from the field of (inaudible). How do you identify them? And are there any people who haven't been identified until now? That's first.

Second, did you receive any requests from any Middle East country that asks for handing over their detainees?

And third, so long as Guantanamo is not a jail and it is rather "arrest house," why don't you allow Amnesty International to check and see what's going on there to dispel any allegations about this prison? Thank you.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: I'll take the last two and you can take the first one. --

MR. WAXMAN: Sure.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: I have the first one. Regarding your last question, I think it's important to recognize that the Red Cross, ICRC, have access to Guantanamo. Not only do they access, but they have the ability to move in the camp, meet with the detainees, speak with them. They've had this type of access from the very beginning. They can come as often as they want to visit or stay, whatever it may be. So we respect the role of the Red Cross and I think we need to preserve the role of the Red Cross in this type of environment. It's not helpful to not only the overall operations but the work of the Red Cross to all of a sudden infuse into Guantanamo all sorts of different NGOs or groups to begin to meet with, interview, have discussions with detainees. It would become just logistically --

QUESTION: It's only one.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: But if you let Amnesty, then you have Human Rights Watch and you have all sorts of other groups. We want to preserve the integrity and the role of the Red Cross.

Regarding countries that -- Middle Eastern countries -- have they asked for their individuals back? The answer is some have, some have not. But all have expressed thoughts or concerns or questions or wanted to find out more about what is going on with their nationals --

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: No. The questions was, whether I could give examples of those who have and those who have not, and I think the answer is no, because we are engaged in diplomatic conversations with everyone. I can tell you from the very beginning, the first thing that we did when we got the population or as the population grew in Guantanamo, we sent back a message to the home country of these individuals to say, "We have your national. This was the circumstance in which we found this person. What is your view on this? We're prepared to enter into conversations to send them back. What is your ability to manage and control the threat?" So we've been in dialogue with everyone and I've met with probably just about every country, either traveled there, they've come here, I've met them in New York during the General Assembly. But these are ongoing conversations that continue.

MR. WAXMAN: You had the -- your first question was --

QUESTION: Yeah. My first question about how you identified --

MR. WAXMAN: Of course, in many cases that may be an easy process based on documents they might have. In some cases, it's harder. In particular, it maybe difficult to make proper identifications because some individuals, especially those al-Qaida members who have trained in terrorist training camps are very skilled at concealing their identity, have multiple aliases and are trained to resist interrogation.

One of the things that we've learned through the interrogation, the intelligence collection process at Guantanamo, is we've learned a lot about the way that al-Qaida trains its individual fighters to resist interrogations. We've learned a lot about the way that they create identities, the way they facilitate cross-border movements. And, in fact, we've had some extremely important intelligence gains. One that I'll just mention off the bat is, you know, we captured something that -- some of you may have heard of, the Manchester Manual. This is an al-Qaida training document that we captured in a raid. You can see it. It's available on the web if you do a search for Manchester Manual. You might, in particular, take a look at, I believe, it's chapter 18, the second to last page of that chapter, which is on detention and prisons, and it encourages -- it teaches the terrorist trainees to claim that they were abused while in prison.

QUESTION: My question was about your process in identifying these detainees. As far as second, how many are there that haven't been identified until now?

MR. WAXMAN: I'm not going to get into the specific processes. This would involve all forms of intelligence collection. Like I say, in some cases it's hard, in some cases it's easy. We've done our best to positively identify everybody that we have in our custody with varying degrees of certainty. That's part of the process that goes on there.

MR. MACINNES: (Inaudible) Let’s do one last question from Tass.

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: Then let me just add one point to that. I think it's important to note is while we, you know, come up with an idea of figuring out who this person is based on, as Mr. Waxman said, our resources and conversations with these individuals, keep in mind that their home country is then invited to come to Guantanamo and to work with us. You know, we've had situations where obviously they've confirmed what we've discovered, or they've come back and said, "You know, this person is not of this nationality. We actually think he's of that nationality." So it's a process that involves an international effort to deal with this -- the threat.

MR. MACINNESS: One last question. We ran out of time. Those who haven't been able to ask can come up afterwards.

QUESTION: Very quick. Mr. Ambassador, just wanted to make sure I understood you correctly. Speaking about Chinese nationals at Gitmo again, so far you haven't released any of those individuals to the third countries or have you?

AMBASSADOR PROSPER: We have not.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. MACINNES: Thank you very much. Like I said, if you have questions, Ambassador Prosper and Waxman will be here for a short time afterwards.

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