Hard to imagine we have to show even an ounce of humanity to such a brutal man who ordered the killings and torture of millions of people. They let him write a letter to his family. That document would be priceless. Wonder what he said in it?
Red Cross Visits Saddam in U.S. Custody
GENEVA - Delegates of the international Red Cross visited Saddam Hussein on Saturday for the first time in U.S. custody in Iraq.
The delegates, one of them a doctor, saw the ousted Iraqi leader at an undisclosed location, said Nada Doumani, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
She would not comment on Saddam's condition or appearance, according to Red Cross policy. The ICRC is mandated to visit prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of warfare.
"The aim of this visit is to track and monitor the conditions of detention and treatment of the detainee," Doumani said, speaking from Amman, Jordan.
"We want to see whether he is getting enough food and water and also to check his health condition and to give him the possibility to write a message to his family, which he did."
Doumani said the ICRC would visit Saddam again but did not say when. "We will repeat our visits as long as the person is in detention," she said.
She declined to say how long Saturday's visit lasted but said it was "long enough to get answers to the important questions."
The ICRC has been seeking access to Saddam since his capture last Dec. 13. The neutral, Swiss-based agency already has visited most of the 43 other high-ranking Iraqis captured by coalition forces, as well as many other prisoners of war and civilian detainees in Iraq.
The U.S. Defense Department determined last month that Saddam is entitled to the designation of prisoner of war because of his status as former commander in chief of Iraq's military.
POW status under the Geneva Conventions grants Saddam certain rights, including ICRC visits and freedom from coercion during interrogations.
The Geneva treaties prevent POWs from being tried simply for taking up arms against an enemy, but do allow them to be tried for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
