The International Committee of the Red Cross is accusing the Bush administration of ignoring requests from the organization to have access to detainees being held in secret U.S. jails around the world. The U.S. has disappeared an unknown number of people captured in the so-called war on terror. The government refuses to reveal where they are held or to allow anyone — including attorneys — to see them.

• Vincent Lusser, Red Cross spokesperson: “Well indeed states can detain people for imperative reasons of security but whatever the legitimate reason for detaining people, we think there is no right to keep them in places that are unknown, and to deny that they’re being detained. So what we wish is to be notified of the people being captured or arrested and then to get standard ICRC access to these people as we do for people in Guantanamo and Bagram.”