In view of evidence that certain persons held in US custody have been subjected to "disappearance", the US authorities should initiate prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the allegations by a competent and independent state authority, as provided under Article 13 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 7. Prosecute Those responsible for torture or other ill-treatment must be brought to justice. This principle should apply wherever alleged torturers happen to be, whatever their nationality or position, regardless of where the crime was committed and the nationality of the victims, and no matter how much time has elapsed since the commission of the crime. Governments should exercise · universal jurisdiction over those suspected of these crimes, extradite them, or surrender them to an international criminal court, and cooperate in such criminal proceedings. Trials should be fair. An order from a superior officer should never be accepted as a justification for torture or ill-treatment. The US authorities should: Publicly reject all arguments, including those contained in classified or unclassified Any person alleged to have perpetrated an act of "disappearance" should, when the facts disclosed by an official investigation so warrant, be brought before the competent civil authoritics for prosccution and trial, in accordance with Article 14 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; Ensure that all trials for alleged perpetrators comply with international fair trial standards, and do not result in imposition of the death penalty. 8. No use of statements extracted under torture or other ill-treatment Governments should ensure that statements and other evidence obtained through torture or other ill-treatment may not be invoked in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture or other ill-treatment. The US authorities should: Ensure that no statement coerced as a result of torture or other ill-treatment, including Revoke the Military Order on the Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non- > Expose and reject any use of coerced evidence obtained by other governments from people held in their own or US custody; Refrain from transferring any coerced evidence for the use of other governments. USA: Guantanamo and beyond - The continuing pursuit of unchecked executive power 9. Provide effective training It should be made clear during the training of all officials involved in the custody, interrogation or medical care of prisoners that torture and other ill-treatment are criminal acts. Officials should be instructed that they have the right and duty to refuse to obey any order to torture or to carry out other ill-treatment. The US authorities should: Ensure that all personnel involved in detention and interrogation, including all members of the armed forces or other government agencies, private contractors, medical personnel and interpreters, receive full training, with input from international experts, on the international prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment, and their obligation to expose it; Ensure that all members of the armed forces and members of other government agencies, including the CIA, private contractors, medical personnel and interpreters, receive full training in the scope and meaning of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, as well as international human rights law and standards, with input from international experts; Ensure that full training be similarly provided on international human rights law and standards regarding the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, including the prohibition on "disappearances”, with input from international experts; ➤ Ensure that all military and other agency personnel, as well as medical personnel and private contractors, receive cultural awareness training appropriate to whatever theatre of operation they may be deployed into. 10. Provide reparation Victims of torture or other ill-treatment and their dependants should be entitled to obtain prompt reparation from the state including restitution, fair and adequate financial compensation and appropriate medical care and rehabilitation. The US authorities should: Ensure that anyone who has suffered torture or ill-treatment while in US custody has access to, and the means to obtain, full reparation including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, wherever they may reside; Ensure that all those who have been subject to unlawful arrest by the USA receive full compensation. 11. Ratify international treaties All governments should ratify without reservations international treaties containing safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its first Optional Protocol; and the UN Convention against Torture, with declarations providing for individual and inter-state complaints. Governments should comply with the recommendations of international bodies and experts on the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment. The US authorities should: Make a public commitment to fully adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law and standards treaties, other instruments, and customary law and respect the decisions and recommendations of international and regional human rights bodies, Make a public commitment to fully adhere to the Geneva Conventions, and to respecting the advice and recommendations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Ratify Additional Protocols I and II to the Geneva Conventions; ➤ Withdraw all conditions attached. to the USA's ratification of the UN Convention against Torture; ➤ Withdraw all limiting conditions attached to the USA's ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 541 ➤ Provide the USA's overdue reports to the Human Rights Committee;54 Ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture; > Ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; Ratify the American Convention on Human Rights; > Ratify the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons without any reservations and implement it by making enforced disappearances a crime under US law over which US courts have jurisdiction wherever committed by anyone. ➤ Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 12. Exercise international responsibility Governments should use all available channels to intercede with the governments of countries where torture or other ill-treatment are reported. They should ensure that transfers of training and equipment for military, security or police use do not facilitate torture or other ill-treatment. Governments must not forcibly return a person to a country where he or she would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. The US authorities should: ➤ Withdraw the USA's. understanding to Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture, and publicly state the USA's commitment to the principle of nonrefoulement, and ensure that no legislation undermines this protection in any way: > Cease the practice of "renditions" that bypass human rights protections; ensure that all transfers of detainees between the USA and other countries fully comply with international human rights law, > Not rely on diplomatic assurances as evidence that no risk of torture or ill-treatment exists in the receiving state. 541 The Human Rights Committee has requested a special report from the US government on its detention practices. The Committee expectd to have the report ahead of its July 2005 session. Press Briefing by Human Rights Committee Chair, 1 April 2005. USA Guantánamo and beyond - The continuing pursuit of unchecked executive power Appendix 5: Selected Al documents on "war on terror" detentions Pakistan USA: Incommunicado detention · Fear of "disappearance" Fear of torture or ill-treatment / Fear of forcible transfer, Al Index: ASA 33/007/2005, 6 May 2005, http://web.arunesty.org/library/Index/TNGASA330072005 USA: Response to the proposed "Interrogations Procedures Act”, Al Index: AMR 51/039/2005, 16 February 2005, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510392005 USA: Open letter to US Senators as they prepare to vote on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General, AI Index: AMR 51/031/2005, 1 February 2005. http://web.amnesty_org/library/Index/ENGAMR510312005 USA: Guantánamo: Trusting the executive, prolonging the injustice, Al Index: AMR 51/030/2005, 26 January 2005, http://web amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMRS10302005 USA: Human rights not hollow words. An appeal to President George W. Bush on the occasion of his reinaguration, Al Index: AMR 51/012/2005, 19 January 2005, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510122005 USA: Guantánamo - an icon of lawlessness, AI Index: AMR 51/002/2005, 6 January 2005, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510022005 USA: Guantánamo: The struggle for our children... Reports of chronic abuse bring more anguish – but new reason to hope as well, AI Index: AMR 51/001/2005, 6 January 2005, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/FNGAMR510012005 USA: Proclamations are not enough, double standards must end. More than words needed this Human Rights Day, Al Index: AMR 51/171/2004, 2 December 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR511712004 UK: Briefing for the Committee against Torture, Al Index: EUR 45/029/2004, 26 November 2004 http://web.amnesty.org/library/Indey/ENGEUR450292004 USA: Guantánamo: Military commissions – Amnesty International observer's notes, No.3 – USA: Human dignity denied: Torture and accountability in the 'war on terror', AMR 51/145/2004, 27 USA: A deepening stain on US justice, Al Index: AMR 51/130/2004, 19 August 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Indev/ENGAMR511302004 USA: Administration continues to show contempt for Guantánamo detainees' rights, Al Index: AMR 51/113/2004, 8 July 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR511132004 USA: The US Supreme Court takes a step towards restoring the rule of law to Guantánamo, Al Index: USA: Restoring the rule of law. The right of Guantánamo detainees to judicial review of the lawfulness USA: Amnesty International calls for a commission of inquiry into war on terror' detentions, Al Index: AMR 51/087/2004, 19 May 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510872004 USA Guantanamo and beyond-The continuing pursuit of unchecked executive power USA: Interrogation techniques amount to torture, AI Index: AMR 51/081/2004, 13 May 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510812004 USA: An open letter to President George W. Bush on the question of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Al Indcx: AMR 51/078/2004, 7 May 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510782004 USA: Appealing for justice: Supreme Court hears arguments against the detention of Yaser Esam Hamdi and José Padilla. AI Index: AMR 51/065/2004, 1 May 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510652004 Iraq: Torture not isolated independent investigations vital, AI Index: MDE 14/017/2004, 30 April 2004. http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE140172004 USA: Supreme Court must end lawlessness in Guantánamo Bay, AI Index: AMR 51/063/2004, 20 April 2004. http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR5106320 USA: Undermining security: violations of human dignity, the rule of law and the National Security Strategy in "war on terror” detentions, AI Index: AMR 51/061/2004, 9 April 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510612004 Yemen: Human Rights for All Conference on Guantánamo detainees and other detainees in Gulf region. Al Index: ACT 79/002/2004. 5 April 2004, http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGACT790022004 USA: Despite releases. Guantánamo remains an affront to the rule of law. AI Index: AMR USA: Guantanamo detainees: Human rights are not negotiable, Al Index: AMR 51-141/2003, 26 USA: Deporting for torture? Al Index: AMR 51/139/2003, 14 November 2003, USA: "We don't torture people in America”, AI Index: AMR 51/128/2003, 20 October 2003, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR511282003 USA: The threat of a bad example – Undermining international standards as “war on terror' detentions continue, Al Index: AMR 51/114/2003, 19 August, 2003, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Indev/ENGAMR511142003 Iraq: Continuing failure to uphold human rights, AI Index: MDE 14/159/2003, 23 July 2003, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Inde ENGMDE141592003 Iraq: Memorandum on concerns relating to law and order, Al Index: MDE 14/157/2003, July 2003, http://web.arunesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE141572003 USA: It is time for the legal limbo to end. Al Index: AMR 51/104/2003, 18 July 2003, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR511042003 USA: Six named under Military Order: Another backward step for human rights, Al Index: AMR 51/096/2003, 4 July 2003, http://web.aninesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510962003 Iraq: The US must ensure humane treatment and access to justice for Iraqi detainees, Al Index: MDE 14/142/2003, 30 June 2003, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE141422003 USA Malawi: Another unlawful transfer to US custody? AI Index: AMR 51/092/2003, 25 June 2003, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMRS10922003 US1: Watchdog agency finds post 911 detainees were deprived of rights, AI Index: AMR 51/079/2003, 4 June 2003. hup://web.ainnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510792003 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Unlawful detention of six men from Bosnia-Herzegovina in Guantánamo Bay, AI Index: EUR 63/013/2003, 30 May 2003 http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR630132003 |