[JURIST] US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] on Tuesday defended the US government's decision to prohibit UN human rights observers from interviewing detainees [JURIST report] on any visit to the prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. The UN observers said Monday they would not accept the invitation [JURIST report] unless they could interview the detainees. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture [official website] Manfred Nowak explained in a New York press conference [JURIST video] that interviews with detainees are necessary for an effective fact-finding mission. The US government's limited invitation to UN human rights observers came after nearly three years of UN requests to see the facility. AP has more.