Some Critical as Gitmo Detainees Set to Receive H1N1 Vaccine

Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, said H1N1 swine flu vaccine doses should start arriving this month, with guards first scheduled for inoculation. However, after that, detainees will get them, as well. With shortages in the United States, complaints that American civilians should have priority have arisen.

While acknowledging that there may be an "emotional response" from critics who argue that terror suspects should not be allocated swine-flu medications while the U.S. public is forced to wait, he added that U.S. military officials are "responsible for the health and care of the detainee population." It is true, that as a prisoner population, the detainees are the responsibility of the U.S. government.

However, it's also true that some, particularly in the Bush administration, failed to recognize these detainees as prisoners of war.

The vaccinations will be voluntary, Crabtree added, as "there is always going to be a segment of the population that is going to refuse," either due to anxiety about a shot or to "distrust of our motivations."

Dr. Scott A. Allen, a spokesman for Physicians For Human Rights, an international medical group, said, "The fact that many prisoners within the U.S. don't get timely access to basic health care doesn't change the obligation of the U.S. to prisoners at Guantanamo. We should work towards securing H1N1 vaccine for all at-risk populations, and not towards lowering a public health standard for certain unpopular groups."

Earlier Sunday, it was announced that a group of six Uighurs, Chinese Muslims who have been determined to not be a threat to the U.S., were transported to the island nation of Palau. The Uighurs cannot return to China, where they would be persecuted, but neither has it been easy to find a country willing to take them.

Officials have stated the Uighurs would be housed in Palau on a temporary basis. There are still seven other Uighurs detained at Gitmo.

Written by Michael Santo