Foreign Relations While Cleaning Up After New Labour

Investigating and dealing with actions that involve other nations, particularly allies, are more difficult. However investigation can be tied to similar actions being taken by allies in their own countries.

The United States is investigating the use of torture and targetting those responsible for instigating its use against prisoners. It is reconsidering the creation of the category of unlawful combatant and the treatment of children by 'coalition of the willing' forces in Iraq.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, confirmed the detention of Iraqi children by foreign military according to "Report" which cited an interim memorandum from the organization. The as yet unreleased memorandum, dated June 2004, states:

"Children who were detained in the cities of Karbala and Basra [Basra was the responsibility of United Kingdom command, ed.] because of alleged activities against the occupying forces were reportedly routinely sent to a detention camp at Umm Kasr. The classification of these children as detainees is worrisome because it includes unspecified length of detention without contact to their families pending further proceedings or legal actions".

If the New Labour Executive has been sanctioning the internment without trial (or with trial for that matter) of children we need to know with urgency how many, where they are held, and if they are still there as our troops withdraw from their closed-down Iraq operation. We need to know too who sanctioned this and under what authority.