AFP. 24 January 2002. Cuba prisoners deserve "proper trial": ex-PoW James Hughes.
LONDON -- Detainees held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have a right to a "proper trial," according to an American who spent almost six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. "I just hope they are not being treated like animals," retired US Air Force colonel James Hughes, 74, told the Mirror, a British tabloid. "From what I can gather these people are being kept in appalling conditions. Maybe it's time to ease up a little," Hughes said, speaking from his home in Magnolia, Arkansas. "There's no need for us to resort to torture in order to get the truth out of people." The former pilot added: "Let's not forget what they are suspected of doing. If only a handful of them are guilty then we must try them and punish them." Hughes was a prisoner of the Viet Cong for almost six years after his F105 plane was shot down during a bombing raid over what was then North Vietnam in May 1967. A widely-circulated photograph of him being paraded through the streets at gunpoint caused anger in the United States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
