U.N. Convention Against Torture Observations

Gabor Rona, International Legal Director for Human Rights First, is in Geneva observing the United States’ presentations to the Committee and will also brief the Committee on several issues of concern. He is reporting daily on the events in Geneva as they unfold.

May 6, 2006

Geneva – Day 3: U.S. on the Spot before the Anti-Torture Committee

Today, for the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States came before an international human rights monitoring body. A high level, twenty-six member U.S. delegation, headed by State Department Legal Advisor John Bellinger, arrived at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to testify before the Committee against Torture. The huge room was filled to capacity with diplomats, journalists and representatives of nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations.

The tone was set with introductory remarks by Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Barry Lowenkron, who recounted the tradition of respect for human rights in the U.S. and the lead role of the U.S. in developing and promoting human rights worldwide. The U.S. does not engage in torture, investigates all allegations of it and holds accountable those responsible for it, he said. He also mentioned that the U.S. is an open society – a remark the irony of which was not lost on the NGOs present, as the U.S. declined to release its most recent supplemental report (submitted to the Torture Committee some time last week) until Monday, too late for NGOs to evaluate it in advance of their presentations, and the continued appearance of the U.S., before the Committee the same day.

Bellinger then made introductory remarks similar to those of Lowenkron, and admonished the Committee not to believe all the allegations it hears about U.S. violations of human rights obligations, which he claims have become “absurd.” He complained that while the U.S. does not shrink from criticism, there was too much attention being paid to very few incidents. Abuse is fully investigated and perpetrators are held accountable with appropriate punishments, he said. The U.S. stuck to its well-worn “few bad apples” spin, citing the dozen Department of Defense investigations as authority for its claim that abuses were neither widespread nor systematic. In fact, even some of the internal investigations determined otherwise and the administration has permitted no independent inquiry.

Bellinger also touted the McCain amendment (part of the Detainee Treatment Act) as evidence of the administration’s commitment to humane treatment, but omitted to mention the dogged, but losing battle it fought to prevent its passage. He also did not mention that another part of the Act – the Graham-Levin amendment – removes the right of Guantánamo detainees to complain about abuse.

Another peculiar part of Bellinger’s opening gambit was a seemingly gratuitous denial that the Torture Convention applied in wartime – peculiar because Article 2 of the treaty is explicit that the prohibition of torture applies in war and gratuitous because the Geneva Conventions provide likewise.

The U.S. delegation then launched into a response to each of the 59 issues that the Committee put to the U.S., covering both domestic and international issues. The members of the Committee followed up with questions indicating skepticism of several claims made by the U.S.:

CLAIM: The U.S. does not send people to third countries where they may be at real risk of torture.
FACT: Several cases of such transfers (also known as “extraordinary renditions”) by or with the involvement of the United States are well-documented, dozens more have been alleged, and the use of Europe’s airspace for “extraordinary renditions” by the United States is being investigated by several bodies of the European Union.

CLAIM: Victims’ rights to redress for acts of torture are respected.
FACT: The Detainee Treatment Act purports to prohibit Guantánamo detainees from using any U.S. court to complain about abuse.

CLAIM: Abuses are properly investigated and perpetrators are held accountable.
FACT: A recent report by Human Rights First analyzed deaths in U.S. custody and identified nearly 100, a third of which are suspected or confirmed homicides under the U.S. military’s own definitions. Only 12 deaths resulted in any kind of punishment and the highest punishment for death as a result of torture was 5 months in prison. Another study looked at all types of alleged abuses and found that more than 600 U.S. personnel have been implicated in more than 330 cases of abuse, torture or killings of over 460 detainees. Only 40 people received prison sentences and only 10 of these received sentences of over 1 year. To date, none of the commanders have been held responsible for the actions of their subordinates.

CLAIM: The U.S. does not authorize interrogation techniques in violation of the Torture Convention.
FACT: Just one of several examples: the U.S. has consistently declined to admit that waterboarding is prohibited – waterboarding is frequently described as “mock drowning,” but the only thing “mock” about it is that the person inflicting it is supposed to stop before the victim is suffocated.

CLAIM: The U.S. accepts the absolute prohibition against torture as defined in the Torture Convention.
FACT: The U.S. interprets the term “torture” more narrowly than the definition used in the treaty. The U.S. also maintains that it has no obligation under the treaty to refrain from engaging in torture overseas or from transferring individuals to countries where they may be tortured, as long as such transfer originates outside the U.S.

In his closing remarks, Committee Chair Andreas Mavrommatis of Cyprus cited the invaluable role of NGOs and suggested that the U.S. should increase its openness and contact with them and should seriously examine, rather than dismiss their complaints.

It is now 3:30 a.m. but tomorrow, I attend a briefing for NGOs at the US Mission. If I remember correctly, they serve excellent coffee.

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