A petition was handed over containing the signatures of 210 people, taken over one weekend at Blackburn's outdoor 'Arts In The Park' festival, containing the following wording:

"We, the undersigned, believe that prisoners captured during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq should be considered prisoners of war. If there is any dispute about their status, the US authorities must allow a "competent tribunal" to decide, as required by the Third Geneva Convention.

"As prisoners of war, these individuals are protected by the Convention. We believe that the prison camp the US military has set up at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, breaches up to fifteen articles of the Convention.

"After months and years of prisoners being held at the base without trial, the US government is now placing detainees on military trial, of which one of the consequences may be the death penalty. We call upon the British Foreign Office to refuse to allow any British national, or indeed any national, to face trial or execution in this fashion, and to insist they be given the right to a fair trial."

We asked Mr. Straw why, after Britain has conducted military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, supposedly fighting for democracy and human rights against oppresive regimes, the British government is being more tolerant of the Americans violating international human rights at Camp Delta, the US military's Auschwitz-like prisoner camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Mr. Straw dodged this question, but commented that the British government had convinced the Americans to suspend the military trials of British citizens Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg.

Mr. Straw also declined to comment on whether or not he considered the prisoners being kept at Guantanamo to be Prisoners of War.

We can quote Mr. Straw as saying he "would not let up" on the US government on this matter.