Cuba on Thursday called for an independent probe into the plight of the terror suspects held at the US base at Guantanamo Bay.

In a resolution submitted to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Cuba asked the US government to "authorize an impartial and independent investigation" into the human rights situation in the detention center at its naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.

The resolution was introduced after the Geneva-based human rights group backed a US call to renew the mandate of a special investigator to exam the human rights situation in Cuba.

Cuba also called on the United States to allow human rights specialists to visit the detention center and gather information.

About 540 men from around 40 countries are being held at Guantanamo Bay, including many prisoners from the war in Afghanistan after the terror attacks on the United States on Sept.11, 2001.

International rights groups have expressed concerns about the treatment of those at the base. There are reports saying some prisoners are not being treated humanely.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2005)