Congressman opposed to Guantanamo visits

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., says allowing the families of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to visit inmates is a bad idea.

The Pentagon said it is considering the unprecedented move to ease the isolation of inmates, including some who have been held at the U.S. facility for nearly 10 years, The Washington Post reported.

Talks between the International Committee of the Red Cross and the military about the proposed family visits have been going on for some time, congressional aides said.

McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, inserted language into legislation authorizing activities of the defense department that would ban the visits.

"My efforts are aimed at protecting U.S. personnel at Guantanamo and sensitive national security information from being compromised," McKeon said Wednesday. "Allowing family members to visit detainees at Guantanamo Bay would create major security concerns for our nation."

The latest version of the authorization funding bill states that Defense Department funding appropriated for fiscal 2012 may not be used "to permit any person who is a family member of an individual detained at Guantanamo to visit the individual."

That would not rule out a visitation program underwritten by the Red Cross, the report said.

ICRC spokesman Simon Schorno said the organization wouldn't comment on confidential discussions with the U.S. government.

However, Schorno said, "regardless of where the detainees are held, particularly in the context of long-term detention, the ICRC will always work for the detainees and their families to be in contact with one another, including through family visits."