More than 40 political and religious parties in Pakistan, as well as professional groups, on Sunday demanded a closure of all American prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay at Cuba, reports IRNA.
The Tehrik Hurmat-e Quran conference called to declare the Guantanamo inmates prisoners of war and provide them with human and legal rights under the Geneva Convention.
A two-page declaration, adopted at the conclusion of the conference, stated that “The conference demands that those proved innocent at Guantanamo prison should be compensated for the brutal behavior meted to them during detention.” The declaration also urged the International Court of Justice and the U.N. Human Rights Commission to pay their effective roles in this regard.
The conference noted that desecration of the holy Quran by the American soldiers has hurt the sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims. “The conference feels that the desecration was not an individual act but the American administration is itself responsible for the incident.”
The conference urged Islamic governments to distance themselves from the U.S. war on terror. “The Muslim nations should declare that they will not be bound to honor any agreement with the U.S. government if Washington did not respect the sentiments of Muslims.”
Pakistan is one the U.S.’s main allies in its war on terror. As a result of President Pervez Musharraf’s cooperation with the American administration, opposition groups launched at least two attempts on his life.