[Sky News (UK) - 1/20/02] Al Qaeda prisoners held in Cuba are being subjected to "sensory deprivation" by their American captors, shocking some observers and adding to international concern at their treatment.
Pictures released of the men show them blindfolded, tightly shackled and forced to wear surgical face masks, ear covers and gloves, denying them use of key senses.
'Humane'
Amnesty International said the pictures were "shocking" and showed the men were being "softened up" for interrogation.
America rejected the criticisms, flying in another 34 prisoners onÊSunday night, including some men with gun shot wounds.
There are now about 150 men being held at America's Guantanamo Bay "Camp X-Ray".
After release of the pictures, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw asked for an explanation and reminded the US of its human rights obligations. But US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insisted the level of security at the camp was appropriate.
Mr Straw, responding to a growing chorus of condemnation from human rights groups and politicians, issued a statement saying: "Prisoners, regardless of their technical status, should be treated humanely and in accordance with customary international law.
"We have always made that clear and the Americans have said they share this view...As for the photographs of detainees published...I have asked our officials in Guantanamo Bay to establish with the US the circumstances in which these photographs were taken."
'Over-reaction'
Human rights groups have already expressed horror that the prisoners were shackled and blindfolded for the long flight to the camp in Cuba, destined for 6-foot by 8-foot (2-metre by 2.6-metre) enclosures with roofs and floors but only chain-link walls. 
Britain said on Friday that a team of its officials had arrived at the Guantanamo Bay to visit three of the al Qaeda detainees there who claim to be Britons. An 'illegal combatant'
Tory Leader Iain Duncan Smith warned against an over-reaction to the pictures, reminding people of the atrocities committed on September 11.
Mr Duncan Smith said the men were "immensely dangerous". "They must be held securely," he said.
'Below standards'
But even some Conservative-leaning newspapers expressed concern. The Mail on Sunday carried a front page piece asking: "Is this how Bush and Blair defend our civilisation?"
Tony Lloyd, a Labour MP and a former foreign office minister, said: "The treatment does seem to be way below the standards you would expect."
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said the conditions were unacceptable: "What sort of effect will these pictures have in capitals like Cairo or Amman? I don't believe we will successfully fight a campaign against terror if we publicly treat people in the way in which these photographs suggest."
'Suicidal'
A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross is at the US base on the eastern tip of Cuba to inspect the prison and interview each detainee. Their findings will not be made public. ÊÊ US officials, who consider the prisoners from Afghanistan dangerous and possibly suicidal, said some had made clear after reaching Guantanamo Bay that they still wanted to hurt and kill Americans.
America has denied the detainees prisoner-of-war status, a designation that would give them extensive rights under the Geneva Convention.
Both the Red Cross and UN human rights chief Mary Robinson have said they consider the captives to be prisoners of war.
The British Parliament's cross-party Human Rights Committee is pressing for a meeting with US ambassador to Britain, William Farish, over conditions in the prison camp and the legal status of the men detained there.Ê
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[posted 1/20/02]
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