Human Rights Monitors Doubt U.S. "Diplomatic Assurances" That Detainees Won't Be Tortured
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
ACLU and Columbia Law School's Human Rights Clinic Seek
Information
About U.S. Transfer of Detainees to Countries That Torture
NEW
YORK -The American Civil Liberties Union and Columbia Law School's Human Rights
Clinic today filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information to
determine U.S. compliance with domestic law and international agreements that
prohibit the transfer of individuals to countries where they face a substantial
risk of torture. The request seeks information on transfers of individuals by
the U.S. to foreign countries on the basis of assurances obtained from these
countries that they will not torture the individuals.
"The practice of
obtaining diplomatic assurances from destination countries is entirely
inadequate for preventing the torture of individuals transferred there by the
United States," said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants'
Rights Project. "We have filed this FOIA request to monitor the use of such
assurances and to prevent the torture of individuals transferred to foreign
countries by the United States."
The Convention Against Torture, ratified by
the U.S. in 1994, prohibits the U.S. from transferring a person "to another
State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in
danger of being subjected to torture." That prohibition has also been
implemented in domestic law. But the U.S. has sought to avoid its treaty
obligations by transferring individuals to countries--including those known to
employ torture - that provide assurances that they will not torture such
individuals.
News reports suggest that the United States has obtained such
assurances from countries known to employ torture, such as Syria and Egypt, but
little is known about the extent to which the U.S. relies on such assurances
when transferring detainees to foreign countries.
The U.S. government has
acknowledged in a report to the U.N. Committee Against Torture that it both
removes and extradites people to foreign countries after receiving diplomatic
assurances. The same report states that the United States transfers detainees
such as those held in Guantánamo Bay Cuba after receiving assurances that the
foreign governments concerned will treat the detainees humanely.
Yet human
rights organizations and the U.N. Special Rapporteur Against Torture have all
said that the assurances cannot effectively prevent the torture of transferred
individuals. High-ranking U.S. officials such as Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales have also recognized that the United States cannot ensure that
transferred individuals will not be tortured. The FOIA request seeks records
related to the transfer of individuals in a number of different contexts,
including immigration removal, extradition, transfer from Guantánamo Bay, and
all other transfers from United States custody. The request has been filed with
the CIA and the Departments of State, Defense, Justice and Homeland
Security.
"Until now we have only known what the government has chosen
disclose about diplomatic assurances in response to leaks and rumors," said
Peter Rosenblum, director of Columbia's Human Rights Clinic. "The American
public deserves light to be shed on this obscure but important practice, which
is what this FOIA request is intended to do."
In a landmark decision, the
Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld recently ruled that the military commissions
used to try detainees held by the U.S. in Guantánamo Bay are unfair and illegal
. Of the approximately 460 detainees held, only ten have been charged with
crimes and brought before the military commissions. The remaining detainees have
been held without charge for up to four years. The Supreme Court's decision
calls into question the existence of the facility, which has been strongly and
repeatedly condemned domestically and by the international community.
As the
U.S. government continues to transfer detainees from Guantánamo Bay to foreign
countries, human rights organizations have expressed deep concern that the U.S.
government might send detainees from Guantánamo Bay or other facilities to
countries where they may be in danger of mistreatment, abuse or torture.
In
a related development, news accounts today report that the Department of Defense
has determined that all detainees held by the United States are protected by the
Geneva Conventions, specifically pointing to Article 3 which prohibits inhuman
treatment and guarantees certain legal rights. This is a marked shift from
previous policy when the Bush administration insisted that detainees were not
eligible for such protections. The ACLU applauded the decision to treat
detainees in accord with international norms, and noted that the protections
should never have been denied.
The FOIA is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/26103lgl20060710.html