“A violation of international law and a stain on the conscience of America”. The Anglican archbishop of York, John Sentamu, did not mince words in condemning what is happening to prisoners being detained by the USA without trial at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Born in Uganda 56 years ago, Sentamu is the first black archbishop of the Anglican Church of England and assumed the post of archbishop of York last October; it’s the most important see of the Anglican Church after that of Canterbury. In “declaring war on terror writes the archbishop in a press release – President Bush was obliged to apply the conventions prescribed in case of war”. But the prisoners at Guantanamo are denied medical visits by the International Red Cross and meetings with the UN Group for Human Rights. “In Uganda continues Sentamu President Amin did something similar: he did not imprison suspects because he knew that the law would have to be applied in prison. He therefore created special places of detention. If Guantanamo were on American soil, the law would have to be applied”.
