Close Guantánamo, UN panel urges
Close Guantánamo, UN panel urges
By Tom Wright Copyright by The New York Times
FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2006
GENEVA A United Nations panel on torture called on the United States on Friday to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and expressed concern over reports of secret prisons and of a practice of sending terror suspects to countries with poor human rights records.
The Committee Against Torture said that the United States should clearly ban interrogation techniques like "water boarding," in which an inmate is held under water to create the fear of drowning; sexual humiliation; and the use of dogs to induce fear. It said that prisoners had died during interrogation involving improper techniques.
The panel said it was "concerned" that prisoners were held for indefinite periods without sufficient legal safeguards in the Guantánamo Bay prison, which was opened to hold Al Qaeda, Taliban and other suspects after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.
The United States "should cease to detain any person at Guantánamo Bay and close this detention facility, permit access by the detainees to the judicial process or release them as soon as possible," the report said.
John Bellinger, a legal adviser to the State Department who led a delegation that appeared at hearings this month in Geneva, said the panel had failed to take into account much of what the United States had told it during those hearings.
"It is unfortunate. They have overwhelmingly focused on a very small number of incidents and not taken into account the overall record of the United States," he said. "The report could just as easily have been written before we appeared." Bellinger said the panel had overstepped its mandate in a number of areas, specifically by asking for Guantánamo Bay to be closed.
The U.S. government also said the report contained "factual and legal inaccuracies."
Military officials have said that they were trying to release many of the roughly 490 people now being held in Guantánamo. They say that the effort has been slowed by the difficulty in arranging for clear assurances that the detainees will not be abused when they are returned to their countries of origin - in many cases, Saudi Arabia or Yemen.
The military announced Friday that four inmates at the detention center tried to commit suicide on Thursday, and other inmates there attacked guards trying to prevent one man from hanging himself, news services reported. Earlier Thursday, the military announced that 15 Saudi prisoners had been transferred back to their home country.
The UN panel reached no conclusion on the most explosive issue it considered, the charge that terror suspects had been held in a network of secret prisons in Eastern Europe that were not open to inspection by the International Red Cross.
The report criticized the refusal of U.S. officials to comment on the charge, and said that Washington "should ensure that no one is detained in any secret detention facility under its de facto effective control."
The panel is composed of 10 special investigators, or rapporteurs, who make periodic reports on compliance with the international treaty banning terrorism, which the United States has signed.
Their recommendations are not binding, but the Bush administration made a significant effort to respond to charges raised during the investigation, sending more than two dozen officials to appear before the panel this month. It was the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that a U.S. delegation had answered questions from an international body about abuses by soldiers and intelligence officers.
The panel said it was concerned that the United States had not seriously punished offenses, like those carried out in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, in some cases handing out "lenient sentences" of less than a year. The United States has so far convicted 19 servicemen and intelligence officers to prison terms of a year or more. Human rights groups say that number is small compared with the 600 people alleged to have carried out acts of torture.
The report was issued after the high- level delegation led by the State Department told the panel that torture of prisoners held in Iraq and Afghanistan were isolated incidents, and had been or would be punished. The delegation declined to discuss intelligence operations, but said all U.S. Army and government officials were bound by U.S. law not to engage in acts of torture.
The Fourth Geneva Convention, Bellinger said, states that there are certain categories of prisoners that can be held during an armed conflict without visitation rights to organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross. Under the Convention Against Torture, a 1987 treaty that is a centerpiece of international human rights law, the United States was supposed to have reported to the UN panel on its compliance by 1999.
The panel praised the United States for enacting legislation in December prohibiting torture of prisoners held anywhere in the world by U.S. forces. But largely, the report consisted of a long list of negatives, challenging the United States' contention that torture is not widespread. The experts asked the United States to file a progress report within a year on changes made in line with the panel's recommendations.
The Bush administration has given signs recently of being ready to shut Guantánamo, a step urged by several U.S. allies.
By Tom Wright Copyright by The New York Times
FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2006
GENEVA A United Nations panel on torture called on the United States on Friday to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and expressed concern over reports of secret prisons and of a practice of sending terror suspects to countries with poor human rights records.
The Committee Against Torture said that the United States should clearly ban interrogation techniques like "water boarding," in which an inmate is held under water to create the fear of drowning; sexual humiliation; and the use of dogs to induce fear. It said that prisoners had died during interrogation involving improper techniques.
The panel said it was "concerned" that prisoners were held for indefinite periods without sufficient legal safeguards in the Guantánamo Bay prison, which was opened to hold Al Qaeda, Taliban and other suspects after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.
The United States "should cease to detain any person at Guantánamo Bay and close this detention facility, permit access by the detainees to the judicial process or release them as soon as possible," the report said.
John Bellinger, a legal adviser to the State Department who led a delegation that appeared at hearings this month in Geneva, said the panel had failed to take into account much of what the United States had told it during those hearings.
"It is unfortunate. They have overwhelmingly focused on a very small number of incidents and not taken into account the overall record of the United States," he said. "The report could just as easily have been written before we appeared." Bellinger said the panel had overstepped its mandate in a number of areas, specifically by asking for Guantánamo Bay to be closed.
The U.S. government also said the report contained "factual and legal inaccuracies."
Military officials have said that they were trying to release many of the roughly 490 people now being held in Guantánamo. They say that the effort has been slowed by the difficulty in arranging for clear assurances that the detainees will not be abused when they are returned to their countries of origin - in many cases, Saudi Arabia or Yemen.
The military announced Friday that four inmates at the detention center tried to commit suicide on Thursday, and other inmates there attacked guards trying to prevent one man from hanging himself, news services reported. Earlier Thursday, the military announced that 15 Saudi prisoners had been transferred back to their home country.
The UN panel reached no conclusion on the most explosive issue it considered, the charge that terror suspects had been held in a network of secret prisons in Eastern Europe that were not open to inspection by the International Red Cross.
The report criticized the refusal of U.S. officials to comment on the charge, and said that Washington "should ensure that no one is detained in any secret detention facility under its de facto effective control."
The panel is composed of 10 special investigators, or rapporteurs, who make periodic reports on compliance with the international treaty banning terrorism, which the United States has signed.
Their recommendations are not binding, but the Bush administration made a significant effort to respond to charges raised during the investigation, sending more than two dozen officials to appear before the panel this month. It was the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that a U.S. delegation had answered questions from an international body about abuses by soldiers and intelligence officers.
The panel said it was concerned that the United States had not seriously punished offenses, like those carried out in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, in some cases handing out "lenient sentences" of less than a year. The United States has so far convicted 19 servicemen and intelligence officers to prison terms of a year or more. Human rights groups say that number is small compared with the 600 people alleged to have carried out acts of torture.
The report was issued after the high- level delegation led by the State Department told the panel that torture of prisoners held in Iraq and Afghanistan were isolated incidents, and had been or would be punished. The delegation declined to discuss intelligence operations, but said all U.S. Army and government officials were bound by U.S. law not to engage in acts of torture.
The Fourth Geneva Convention, Bellinger said, states that there are certain categories of prisoners that can be held during an armed conflict without visitation rights to organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross. Under the Convention Against Torture, a 1987 treaty that is a centerpiece of international human rights law, the United States was supposed to have reported to the UN panel on its compliance by 1999.
The panel praised the United States for enacting legislation in December prohibiting torture of prisoners held anywhere in the world by U.S. forces. But largely, the report consisted of a long list of negatives, challenging the United States' contention that torture is not widespread. The experts asked the United States to file a progress report within a year on changes made in line with the panel's recommendations.
The Bush administration has given signs recently of being ready to shut Guantánamo, a step urged by several U.S. allies.
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