Posted on 05/03/2006 10:03:11 AM PDT by SmithL
LONDON -- The United States has failed to eradicate "widespread" torture of prisoners in its war on terrorism despite the outcry from the Abu Ghraib scandal and abusive behavior at U.S. detention facilities in Cuba and Afghanistan, Amnesty International charged Wednesday.
The London-based human rights group made its criticism in a report to the U.N. Committee Against Torture, which is meeting in Geneva this week to consider American compliance with the U.N. convention against torture and other cruel forms of punishment.
"Evidence continues to emerge of widespread torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees held in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq and other locations," the report said.
Amnesty International charged that no senior American officials have been held accountable for incidents of torture or ill-treatment and said legislation passed by Congress in 2005 has "serious limitations."
One section of that law, the group said, refers to "cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment" banned under the U.S. Constitution as defined by a series of reservations the United States has expressed regarding the U.N. Convention against Torture.
The law is a step forward but still could leave the United States open to employ a narrower interpretation of what constitutes such treatment than is recognized under the convention, Amnesty said, adding that the United States should withdraw its reservations to the convention.
"Although the U.S. government continues to assert its condemnation of torture and ill-treatment, these statements contradict what is happening in practice," said Curt Goering, senior deputy executive director of Amnesty International USA.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Amnesty International wants amnesty for terrorists.
And Amnesty Interectal has failed to prove the torture even exists.
What is so funny is that they're so loathe to criticize the real perpetrators of human rights abuses (burma, china, iran, etc. etc.) but they have no problem criticizing the US. I mean SERIOUSLY, they remind me of Kucinich for President campaign workers. They're energized and ready to make a difference, but they're completely lost when it comes to a candidate, or in this case a country to criticize. Get a F'ing clue losers...
i.e., Free Republic is torturing the MSM and liberals all over the world...
BREAKING NEWS...US says Amnesty Int'l has failed to stop torture!
These Amnesty International idiots should go to Afghanistan and tell that to the Afghan Coalition Forces that are getting shot at on a daily basis by the Taliban.
j
Well, these stupid "citizen of the world" hippie types putting out jackass report after jackass report could be considered torture. So maybe they have a point.
The USA has to stopped torture! Amnesty International had listed Iraq and the Iraqi Regime as the most brutal abuser of human rights of any country on Earth right before the war.
Saddam is now on trail.
Nuff said!
Any word on AI working in North Korea for human rights? Or do they cowardly only work in CIVILIZED countries where they know they won't be harmed?
Personally I wouldn't mind it if they *were* torturing them, since they seemed to show so little restraint in slitting the throats of the flight attendants.
Thanks to strong CENTCOM leadership and supervision at every level, our detainee policy has dramatically corrected the problems of the first year of the War on Terrorism. Detainee practices and policy in detention centers in both Iraq and Afghanistan that I have visited are firm, professional, humane, and well supervised. However, we may be in danger of over-correcting. The AIF are exploiting our overly restrictive procedures and are routinely defying the U.S. interrogators. It is widely believed that the US has a “14 day catch and release policy” and the AIF “suspect” will soon be back in action.You can read more here.This is an overstatement of reality, however, we do have a problem. Many of the AIF detainees routinely accuse U.S. soldiers of abuse under the silliest factual situations knowing it will trigger an automatic investigation.
Do they say anything 'bout Iran? Cuba? Or any other of an assortment of hellholes?
It's not like we can ban the Democrat Party and shut down the MSM. The 1st Ammendment prevents such things.
1. Terrorists are not protected under the Geneva convention. They don't wear uniforms and don't ally themselves to one particular nation.
2. Since when is flushing a Koran down a toilet or playing loud music torture? I WISH that if our soldiers were ever taken hostage by Al Qaida that all they would be subjected to would be loud music and someone flushing their Bible down the toilet. Does AI really think the terrorists would be more humane?
Kinda seems that way. All their big reports seem to be about the US.
Go read them. They understand that we're talking about a very small number of people, either those "tortured"- which, btw, AI considers not only physical pain and injury but inconveniening as well, ie, hooding and shackling amount to "torture"- or those conducting it.
But the numbers involved or the broader social structures at work don't matter, of course. What matters is that it's the US behind it.
Publius6961: Good!
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