[Grovenet] Is the UN More "American" than America?

[Eric Canon]

http://tinyurl.com/gf5yy

Remember when America led the way in terms of
human rights? It's a whole new world now:

Quoting: GENEVA (Reuters) - The
United Nations committee against torture told the
United States on Friday that any secret jails it
ran for foreign terrorism suspects, along with
the Guantanamo Bay facility, were illegal and
should be closed.

In its first review of U.S. policy since
Washington launched its war on terrorism, the
influential body of 10 independent experts also
urged President George W. Bush to ban
interrogation methods that could be regarded as
torture or cruel treatment.

It cited use of dogs to terrify detainees,
"water-boarding" which is a form of mock
drowning, and sexual humiliation, saying that
some detainees had died during questioning.

The United States "should ensure that no one is
detained in any secret detention facility under
its de facto effective control," said the
committee, which has moral authority but no legal
power to enforce its recommendations.

"Detaining persons in such conditions
constitutes, per se, a violation of the
Convention," said the body which examines
compliance with the 1987 U.N. Convention against
Torture or other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.

The United States openly holds hundreds of
terrorism suspects, most arrested since al
Qaeda's September 11 attacks in 2001, at its
prisons in
Afghanistan,
Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

The United States "should cease to detain any
person at Guantanamo Bay and close this detention
facility, permit access by the detainees to
judicial process or release them as soon as
possible..." the committee said.