HC Deb 16 July 2003 vol 409 cc396-7W
Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much access time to(a) family members, (b) legal representatives, (c) religious representatives and (d) British Red Cross representatives is allowed to each British detainee at Camp Delta. [124632]

Mr. Mullin

The British detainees held at Guantanamo Bay are not currently allowed access to family members or legal representatives but they do have access to a Muslim cleric. The International Committee of the Red Cross has access to the detainees on request.

Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times Foreign Office officials have visited each British detainee at Camp Delta; and how long each meeting lasted. [124637]

Mr. Mullin

British officials have visited Guantanamo Bay on five occasions. During each visit, all the British detainees who were held at that time at Guantanamo Bay were seen individually by British officials. Each meeting lasted up to one and a half hours.

Helen Jackson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what circumstances British detainees held at Guantanamo Bay would be returned to the UK. [124232]

Mr. Mullin

We have been informed that the US authorities have not made any decision on whether or not to return the British detainees to the UK. We continue to press the United States to resolve the position of the detainees.

Mrs. Lawrence

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions are being taken to determine the future of British citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay. [123938]

Mr. Mullin

Ministers and officials continue to have regular discussions with the United States authorities about the British detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Two of the British detainees have been designated as eligible to be tried by Military Commissions. We have strong reservations about the Commissions. We have raised and will continue to raise these concerns energetically with the US, including with the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

We continue to press the United States to resolve the position of all the detainees, including the other seven British nationals in Guantanmo Bay.

Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his Answer of 8 July, ref.122612, on the welfare of British citizens in Guantanamo Bay, what the individual health concerns of the detainees are that the Government has raised with the US authorities; what the average delays in mail are; how much exercise the detainees are allowed; and if he will make a statement [125800]

Mr. Straw

For reasons of confidentiality it would not be appropriate to give details of the individual health concerns of the British detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. (This is reflected in Exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information). We do keep in contact with the families concerned.

Mail can take up to four or five months. The detainees are allowed a minimum of two 15-minute periods of exercise outside every week and are also able to exercise in their cells and communal areas. Some of the detainees are allowed to exercise outside more frequently. Although we do not consider the amount of exercise allowed to be sufficient, we understand that the situation is improving. We continue to raise both these issues with the US authorities.

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