American Civil Liberties Union Shadow Report to the 3rd-5th Periodic Reports of the United States, Submitted to the 53rd Session of the UN Committee Against Torture

In 1994, the United States ratified the world’s landmark international treaty banning torture and cruel treatment: The Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. On November 12th and 13th, the U.S. will go before the U.N. Committee Against Torture to report on progress made with respect to treaty implementation and compliance.

This ACLU report is submitted to the UN Committee against Torture as an alternative (or “shadow”) report to the U.S. government report submitted in August 2013, and highlights key areas in which the U.S. government has failed to uphold its human rights commitments under the Convention.

1. Introduction
2. Non-Refoulement
   • Rendition by U.S. Intelligence Agencies and Diplomatic Assurances
   • Asylum Seekers at the Border
3. National Security
   • Lack of Transparency and Accountability for the Bush Administration’s Torture Program
   • Detention and Trials at Guantànamo
   • Prohibiting Secret Detention by the Central Intelligence Agency
   • Interrogation Policies
4. Solitary Confinement
5. Denial of Access to Justice under the PLRA
6. Immigration Detention
   • Prolonged and Indefinite Immigration Detention
   • Conditions of Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention Facilities
   • Administrative Family Detention
7. Life-without-Parole Sentences
8. The Death Penalty
9. Racial Profiling
10. The Excessive Militarization of Policing