U.S. prepares to face U.N. on torture as Amnesty report blasts 'war crimes'

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Sat, 29 Apr 2006 09:08:02 -0700

[Zepps_News] U.S. prepares to face U.N. on torture as

Amnesty report blasts 'war crimes'

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/As_U.S._prepares_to_face_U.N._0428.html

 

 

 

*U.S. prepares to face U.N. on torture as Amnesty report blasts 'war

crimes'*

 

*RAW STORY <http://rawstory.com>

 

 

*Published: Friday April 28, 2006

 

 

 

As the United States prepares a team of 30 to defend its record on

torture before a U.N. committee, Amnesty International has made public a report

blasting the United States for failing to take appropriate steps to eradicate

use of torture at U.S. detention sites around the world, RAW STORY

<http://rawstory.com> has learned.

 

U.S. compliance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,

Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment will be the topic of May 5 and 8

U.N. hearings in Geneva.

 

The United States last appeared before the Committee Against Torture in May,

2000. Amnesty claims that practices criticized by the Committee six years ago --

such as the use of electro-shock weapons and excessively harsh conditions in

" super-maximum " security prisons -- have been used and exported by U.S. forces

abroad.

 

The Amnesty report (Beyond Abu Ghraib: detention and torture in Iraq

<http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde140012006>) reviews several cases

where U.S. detainees held in Afghanistan and Iraq have died as a result of

torture. The group also lambasts U.S. use of electro-shock weapons, inhuman and

degrading conditions of isolation in " super-max " security prisons and abuses

against women in the prison system -- including sexual abuse by male guards,

shackling while pregnant and even in labor.

 

As of now, the U.S. has yet to prosecute a single official, military

officer or private contractor for " torture " or " war crimes " related to

its occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, or the " war on terror. "

 

" The heaviest sentence imposed on anyone to date for a torture-related

death while in U.S. custody is five months, " notes Curt Goering, Senior Deputy

Executive Director for Amnesty International USA. " [That's] the same sentence

that you might receive in the U.S. for stealing a bicycle. "

 

The five month sentence resulted from the death of a 22-year-old

taxi-driver, who had been hooded and chained to a ceiling, then kicked

and beaten until dead.

 

" The U.S. government is not only failing to take steps to eradicate

torture, " he adds, " it is actually creating a climate in which torture

and other ill-treatment can flourish -- including by trying to narrow

the definition of torture. "

 

The report argues that these cases are not isolated incidents, but part of an

overall pattern condoned by U.S. officials.

 

" While the government continues to try to claim that the abuse of

detainees in U.S. custody was mainly due to a few 'aberrant' soldiers,

there is clear evidence to the contrary, " said Javier Zuniga, Amnesty

International's Americas Program Director. " Most of the torture and

ill-treatment stemmed directly from officially sanctioned procedures and

policies -- including interrogation techniques approved by Secretary of Defense

Donald Rumsfeld. "

 

Amnesty's findings have already been sent to members of the UN Committee Against

Torture.

 

At its May 1-19 session, the Committee Against Torture will consider

reports presented by Georgia, Guatemala, Republic of Korea, Qatar, Peru, Togo

and the United States. With the exceptions of Korea and Peru, Amnesty has also

provided reports about the actions of these nations.

 

 

 

--

 

" Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about

wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed,

by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking

about getting a court order before we do so "

-George W. Bush, April 20, 2004

 

Pay your taxes so the rich don't have to.

 

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