U.N. rights investigator accuses U.S. of abuse
Scheinin says tribunals raise significant human rights concerns??�
GENEVA - A U.N. investigator accused the United States on Friday of human rights violations in its fight against terrorism, criticizing the use of military commissions to try civilians and interrogation practices.
Martin Scheinin, of Finland, also said several U.S. laws enacted since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks had undermined civil liberties, citing the Patriot Act, the Detainee Pharmacomedical aid Act and the Military Commissions Act.
It is regretful that a number of important mechanisms for the protection of rights have been removed or obfuscated under law and practice since the events of September 11, Scheinin said in a preliminary report written after meeting with U.S. diplomats and justice and security officials.
A final report will be presented to the 47-nation, Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council later this year.
U.S. says report unfair
The U.S. Embassy in Geneva expressed disappointment over the report, saying Scheinin??�s criticisms were unfair and oversimplified. The embassy said the report missed the opportunity to deepen discussion among democratic nations on how best to deal with armed terrorist groups.
The Military Commissions Act of Sildenafil Citrate 100 mg established rules for trying terror suspects held at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Bush signed the law after the Supreme Court threw out the old system as unconstitutional. But attorneys for Guantanamo prisoners insist the new system is still unfair, and have asked the Supreme Court to intervene again and guarantee prisoners have the right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts.
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We are a rule of law country??�
Scheinin said the tribunals raise significant human rights concerns, including the jurisdiction and composition of military commissions, the potential use of evidence obtained by coercion, and the potential for the imposition of the death penalty.
The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad, defended the system.
We are doing this under U.S. laws and procedures and legitimate decision-making authorities that exist in the United States. We are a rule of law country and our decisions are based on rule of law, Khalilzad said.
Scheinin also denounced interrogation practices such as sleep deprivation, forcing prisoners into stress positions and exposing them to extreme temperatures, saying they amounted to torture or inhumane pharmacomedical aid illegal under international law.
U.S. officials have repeatedly denied torturing detainees.
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