ACLU Presses for U.S. Accountability Before the U.N. Committee Against Torture
GENEVA -- The U.S. government is in clear and unequivocal violation of its
obligations under the Convention Against Torture, the American Civil Liberties
Union charged today at the opening session of the U.N. Committee Against Torture
in Geneva. According to the ACLU, these violations were widespread and occurred
both within the U.S. and abroad. The U.N. Committee Against Torture will review
U.S. compliance with the treaty which it ratified in 1994.
"There is
overwhelming evidence of torture and abuse of detainees held in U.S. custody
abroad. Prisoners held within the United States have been similarly abused,"
said Jamil Dakwar, an attorney with the ACLU Human Rights Program. "Perpetrators
and senior officials who sanctioned the abuse have escaped accountability. The
Committee Against Torture has to send the message loud and clear that no state
is above the law prohibiting torture."
The U.N. Committee Against Torture is
the world's leading human rights body tasked with holding countries accountable
for torture and abuse. It meets twice a year to examine countries' compliance
with the treaty and at the Geneva session that started this week, it will review
the U.S. report. John B. Bellinger, the legal advisor to the Department of
State, will lead the U.S. delegation made up of 26 representatives from the
Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Justice and from the
Department of Homeland Security.
The ACLU presented the Committee with its
detailed report, Enduring Abuse: Torture and Cruel Treatment by the United
States at Home and Abroad, which documents U.S. failure to comply with the
treaty against torture. The report is based on a range of sources, including
more than 100,000 government documents turned over to the ACLU as a result of
Freedom of Information Act litigation.
The documents reveal a systemic and
pervasive pattern of torture and abuse of detainees and prisoners in U.S.
custody abroad and at home, including evidence that detainees have been beaten;
forced into painful stress positions; threatened with death; sexually and
religiously humiliated; stripped naked; hooded and blindfolded; exposed to
extreme heat and cold; denied food and water; isolated for prolonged periods;
subjected to mock drownings; and intimidated by dogs. Abusive conditions of
confinement also endanger numerous detainees and prisoners held within the U.S.,
where prison rape and sexual assault are daily occurrences, and the use of
Tasers and restraint devices are pervasive.
The ACLU also presented a series
of recommendations and urged the Committee to implement them immediately in
order to bring the U.S. into compliance with the treaty. These include:
The ACLU was founded in 1920 and is now the nation's largest civil liberties
organization with more than 500,000 members. It is one of the few domestic
groups involved in a broad expanse of legal cases and advocacy efforts involving
both domestic and extra-territorial abuse. In 2004, the ACLU created a Human
Rights Program specifically dedicated to holding the U.S. government accountable
to universal human rights principles in addition to rights guaranteed by the
U.S. Constitution. The ACLU Human Rights Program incorporates international
human rights strategies into ACLU advocacy on issues relating to national
security, immigrants' rights, women's rights and racial justice.
The ACLU's
delegation to Geneva is comprised of Dakwar, Elizabeth Alexander, the Director
of the ACLU National Prison Project, and Amrit Singh, an attorney with the ACLU
Immigrants' Rights Project.
The ACLU's report to the Committee Against
Torture is available online at:
www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/25354pub20060427.html
The ACLU's official statement to the Committee Against Torture is available
online at: www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/gen/25445lgl20060504.html
The
more than 100,000 government documents turned over to the ACLU as a result of
Freedom of Information Act litigation are available online in a searchable
database at: www.aclu.org/torture