LUXEMBOURG - MOVEMENT restrictions would be placed on Guantanamo inmates accepted by European nations under an agreement made by EU interior ministers on Thursday, diplomats said.
The agreement in principle could send an important signal to the United States that the EU wants to help close the notorious 'war on terror' prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, diplomats said.
It would oblige governments which accept detainees from Guantanamo 'to take appropriate measure to ensure they do not compromise public order and internal security' in other EU countries, a diplomat said.
This means limits would be set on residency permits any former inmate gets, the diplomats explained.
Normally, having been held in Guantanamo would not be reason enough to restrict someone's movement, and this would only be done based on reliable and specific evidence that someone poses a threat.
Indeed individual EU nations have agreed only to accept detainees who are 'cleared for release' by the US authorities.
Officials say that no legal definition of the 'cleared for release' status exists, although experts concur that it usually means former detainees who the US authorities do not plan to prosecute.
Austria, Germany and Italy have expressed concern at the idea of having former detainees roaming free inside the 25-nation Schengen zone, where formal passport controls have been dropped. -- AFP
