LOC13:47
10:47 GMT
GENEVA, Dec 28 (KUNA) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Tuesday that families in Yemen can for the first time comunicate with their relatives detained at the US facility in Guantanamo Bay, via video-teleconference, using a new service made available by (ICRC).
"The first video-teleconference calls were made 10 days ago in Sana'a. The latest round of calls, which took place in Aden, in the south of the country, has just been completed," said the ICRC in a press release.
"This is the first opportunity families in Yemen and their detained relatives in Guantanamo Bay have had to use video-teleconferencing," explained Nourane Houas of the ICRC's Sana'a delegation.
"So far, four families have done so." The video calls, which can last up to one hour, give the detainees and their families the opportunity not only to speak but also to see each other, in some cases for the first time in almost a decade.
"Nothing - not even live video - can replace a face-to-face visit, but a video call is considerably more satisfying than a phone call or written message," added Houas.
A total of 90 Yemeni nationals are currently detained in Guantanamo Bay. Many have until now kept in touch with their families in Yemen through Red Cross messages (brief family messages forwarded by the ICRC) and telephone calls.
The ICRC has been working in Yemen since 1962. In cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent Society, it endeavours to meet the most urgent needs of victims of armed violence in the country, to provide humanitarian assistance on an impartial basis, and to visit people deprived of their freedom.(end) ta.wsa KUNA 281347 Dec 10NNNN