LONDON, May 11 (UPI) -- Opposition parties Thursday urged British Prime Minister Tony Blair to back his attorney-general's call for Guantanamo's U.S. detention facilities to close.
In a letter to Blair, Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Menzies Campbell challenged him to outline his plans for persuading the United States to close the detention camp, which the prime minister has previously described as "an anomaly which must be dealt with."
Attorney-General Lord Peter Goldsmith Wednesday became the most senior British minister to explicitly call for the closure of Guantanamo, saying it had become a "symbol of injustice" and its existence was "unacceptable."
Speaking at London's Royal United Services Institute, he said Britain was "unable to accept that the U.S. military tribunals proposed for those detained at Guantanamo Bay offered sufficient guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with international standards."
Washington rejected the call, saying the camp housed dangerous people who could pose a significant threat if released.
Campbell called on Blair to state publicly whether he agreed with his attorney-general, and whether he had made representations to the United States to that effect.
He said the existence of Guantanamo was undermining international confidence in the commitment of the United States to respect human rights and the international rule of law. Respect for human rights was not only compatible with but an "essential part" of the campaign against terrorism, he argued.
Campbell noted the report of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights' special rapporteurs, which concluded that the "arbitrary detention" at Guantanamo violated the right to a fair trial, and that the treatment of detainees was inhuman and sometimes amounted to torture.
Cabinet ministers who have previously condemned the camp include Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain and then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who describe it as a "gulag."
