OneWorld.net (U.S.)

The Netherlands is demanding guarantees from its NATO partners in Afghanistan and from President Hamid Karzai that prisoners will be treated in a humane manner, according to international law. In reaction to criticism in parliament, Foreign Minister Ben Bot said these guarantees were an important condition for the participation of Dutch troops in a dangerous mission in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

The Dutch parliament wants the United States in particular to promise to treat prisoners according to the Geneva Conventions. Washington, however, has never given guarantees about the treatment of what it calls "illegal combatants".

The Netherlands has been asked to contribute 1,000 troops to an anti-Taliban operation in Uruzgan, but the Dutch government is still in doubt. Apart from the issue of P.O.W. rights, it is also worried about the dangerous nature of the mission.