Human rights advocates say the U.S. military should long ago have released the boys, between the ages of 13 and 15, but detention mission commander Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller said this week their freedom is being held up at higher levels.

Soldiers guard them day and night, never shutting their bedroom doors and monitoring them on wide-angle mirrors on the walls. The bathroom remains open, a small curtain covering part of the doorway for privacy.

"We're concerned that a prolonged separation from their families may cause a deterioration in their mental health," said Jo Becker, of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.

The boys, who wear orange jumpsuits, undergo more than an hour of group therapy twice a week and also meet with psychiatrists.

Miller recommended in August that they be sent back to their home countries. The request is awaiting approval by the Pentagon and other agencies, Miller said, adding he expects a decision soon.

"They are no longer a threat to U.S. interests," said Army Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, a spokeswoman.

Miller has acknowledged there are a few other juveniles, ages 16 and 17, held with adults in the main maximum-security prison but he declines to say how many. Some 660 detainees from 44 countries are held at the base on suspicion of links to the Taliban or al-Qaida terror network.

Unlike the main prison, which is ringed in razor wire, the cinderblock duplex holding the three youngest detainee has fences covered in green netting except for an opening allowing views of cliffs and the ocean.

Guards say the teenagers often kick soccer balls in the yard, though it has no goals. Dozens of balls have been lost when the boys kicked them into the sea, said one guard, who identified himself as Master Sgt. P.

Taking journalists through one side of the air conditioned duplex Thursday, military officials kept the three boys out of sight.

Their days are regimented, with their routine posted on a wall: wake up at 6 a.m., then breakfast, room inspection, studies and counseling. They have a half hour of recreation, time for board games and movies, followed by lights out at 9 p.m.

The boys study their native languages, social studies and geography. Officials decline to specify their citizenship. The three are all Muslims, officials said.

The boys exchange censored mail with relatives through the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only independent group allowed access to the detainees.

Guards say the boys have picked up basic English, but an interpreter is always present. Two have been here since the beginning in January 2002, and the other arrived later.

The teenagers are generally respectful, and are considering becoming a religious cleric and a doctor, Sgt. P said. The guard, a middle school teacher in civilian life, said he has never seen the boys cry.

They enjoy films including National Geographic nature films, "Call of the Wild," "Free Willy" and "White Fang." The Tom Hanks film "Cast Away" is also a favorite.

The teenagers have a refrigerator stocked with apples, oranges, pears and dates. Those who cooperate get snacks and extra movie time. Those who don't are sent to their rooms for "time out."

They are still interrogated from time to time, officials said.

Few details about interrogations have been revealed, but on Friday officials allowed reporters into rooms once used for interrogations at Camp X-Ray, a now-closed compound of temporary, chain-link cells.

One room had words scrawled on the walls in Arabic and English: "liar, coward, failure, weak, proud, stubborn." Maps of places from Saudi Arabia to Germany were strewn about.

The detainees have no access to lawyers, and none have been charged.

"We were told six months ago that the U.S. government was aware that the detention of children was problematic," said Alistair Hodgett of Amnesty International. "Nothing has happened in their case."