WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 17) - A new report from Human Rights First (the new
name of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) outlines the scope of the
global network of U.S. detention facilities holding suspects in the "war on
terror." The report lists more than two dozen facilities that have been
reported by Human Rights First sources and the media; at least half of these
operate in total secrecy.
In addition to listing known detention facilities - including prisons at
Guantanamo Bay, Bagram Air Force Base, and Abu Ghraib - the report, "Ending
Secret Detentions" provides an accounting of U.S. military detention
facilities reported in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Jordan, and aboard U.S.
ships at sea (see attached list).
"The abuses at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib cannot be addressed in
isolation," said Deborah Pearlstein, the Director of Human Rights First's
U.S. Law and Security Program. "The United States government is holding
prisoners in a secret system of off-shore prisons beyond the reach of
adequate supervision, accountability, or law."
Human Rights First is calling for a comprehensive global response by U.S.
authorities to end secret detentions, to investigate abuses, and to put
necessary corrective measures in place.
The report, called "Ending Secret Detention," concludes that the secrecy
surrounding this network of detention facilities, as it has been constructed
and operated by the United States, makes "inappropriate detention and abuse
not only likely, but inevitable." Human Rights First calls on the
Administration to give the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
immediate access to all those it is holding in custody in the "war on
terror."
The report outlines what is known about this global detention system and
finds that it is, to varying degrees in different locations, failing to meet
existing obligations under U.S. and international law.
These obligations include:
a.. Affording the ICRC unfettered access to all detainees held in the
course of armed conflict
b.. Providing every individual in custody some recognized legal status
c.. Disclosing the names of all individuals detained to their families and
friends
In a chapter called "The Purpose Behind the Law," the report argues that the
United States' illegal treatment of detainees puts U.S. forces abroad at
greater risk of the same kinds of torture and ill treatment. It also
describes how these illegal practices seriously undermine the United States'
ability to forge alliances throughout the international community - a goal
essential to defeating terrorism over the long term. "The United States'
practices in its global network of detention facilities also has a deeply
negative effect on the U.S. ability to combat the threat of terrorism," the
report finds, "which depends critically on a visible demonstration that U.S.
deeds match its words in supporting democracy and human rights."
To come into compliance with the law and to prevent future abuse, Human
Rights First calls on the Administration to take a series of steps,
including:
(1) Granting the ICRC unrestricted access to all U.S.-controlled detention
facilities around the world.
(2) Disclosing to Congress and the ICRC the location of all
U.S.-controlled detention facilities worldwide, and providing a regular
accounting of the number and nationality of all held.
(3) Ordering a thorough, comprehensive, and independent investigation of
all U.S.-controlled detention facilities, and submitting the findings of the
investigation to Congress.
(4) Taking all necessary steps to inform the immediate families of those
detained of their relatives' capture, location, legal status, and condition
of health.
source
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/media/2004_alerts/0617.htm
.
|
