Post by BreakForNews on Jan 24, 2005 4:07:00 GMT
web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510122005
Date: 19 January 2005
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Human rights not hollow words
An appeal to President George W. Bush on the occasion of his re-inauguration
Mr President,
In your inaugural address four years ago, you promised to be a leader who would "speak for greater justice". Since then, a much repeated promise of your administration has been that the USA will adhere to fundamental principles of human dignity and the rule of law, including in the context of the "war on terror". The National Security Strategy devotes an entire chapter to asserting that in its pursuit of security, the USA will "stand firmly for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity", including the rule of law. The National Strategy for Combating Terrorism concludes that "a world in which these values are embraced as standards, not exceptions, will be the best antidote to the spread of terrorism". Just last month, on Human Rights Day, you proclaimed that respect for human rights and the rule of law line the route to peace and security. Amnesty International agrees.
Your stated opposition to torture would appear on the face of it to be similarly principled. On 26 June 2003, for example, you issued a statement that:
"Torture anywhere is an affront to human dignity everywhere. We are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law…The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example."
In similar vein, on 26 June 2004, to mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, you stated that:
"The non-negotiable demands of human dignity must be protected without reference to race, gender, creed, or nationality. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law… America stands against and will not tolerate torture. We will investigate and prosecute all acts of torture and undertake to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment in all territory under our jurisdiction."
Of course, a government should not be assessed on its words alone, but also on its actions. For things may not be as officially described. As you yourself pointed out in your 26 June 2003 statement on torture, "notorious human rights abusers… have long sought to shield their abuses from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and denying access to international human rights monitors".
Your administration has as a matter of policy for more than three years denied international human rights monitors, including Amnesty International, access to detainees held by the USA in the "war on terror", in addition to routinely denying detainees access to the courts, legal counsel and relatives. In addition, US personnel have staged deceptions in order to subvert basic human rights protections and the rule of law. Certain detainees, for example, have been moved around or left unregistered in order that they can be hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The full extent of this practice remains unknown – last September General Paul Kern told the Senate Armed Services Committee that there may have been as many as 100 so-called "ghost detainees" in US custody in Iraq. An unknown number of detainees are believed to remain held in secret locations by the USA or with its connivance, amounting to "disappearance" in some cases......
The USA is alleged to have been involved in numerous secret transfers of detainees between itself and countries known to use torture, or to have employed extrajudicial abductions of individuals in order to subject them to executive detention and interrogation........
Amnesty International takes this opportunity to list some of the detention or interrogation techniques that are alleged to have been authorized or used by the USA during the "war on terror". Some of the techniques appear to have been tailored to specific cultural or religious sensitivities of the detainees, thereby introducing a discriminatory element to the abuse. Neither gender nor age has offered protection. Children, the elderly, women and men are reported to have been among the subjects of torture or ill-treatment. The following list does not claim to be exhaustive:
o Abduction
o Death threats
o Dietary manipulation
o Dogs used to threaten and intimidate
o Dousing in cold water
o Electric shocks, threats of electric shocks
o Excessive and cruel use of shackles and handcuffs, including "short shackling"
o Excessive or humiliating use of strip searches
o Exposure to weather and temperature extremes
o "False flag", ie making a detainee think his interrogators are not US agents
o Forced shaving, ie of head, body or facial hair
o Forcible injections
o Forced physical exercise
o Hooding and blindfolding
o Humiliation, eg forced crawling, forced to make animal noises, etc.
o Immersion in water to induce perception of drowning
o Incommunicado detention
o Induced perception of suffocation or asyphxiation
o Isolation for prolonged periods, eg months or more than a year
o Light deprivation
o Loud music, noise, yelling
o Photography as humiliation
o Physical assault, eg beating, punching, kicking
o Prolonged interrogations, eg 20 hours
o Racial and religious taunts, humiliation
o Religious intolerance, eg disrespect for Koran, religious rituals
o Secret detention
o Sensory deprivation
o Sexual humiliation
o Sexual assault
o Sleep adjustment
o Sleep deprivation
o Stress positions, eg prolonged forced kneeling and standing
o Stripping
o Strobe lighting
o Threats of reprisals against relatives
o Threat of transfer to third country to inspire fear of torture or death
o Threat of transfer to Guantánamo
o Threats of torture or ill-treatment
o Twenty-four hour lighting
o Withdrawal of "comfort items"
o Withholding of medication
o Withholding of food and water
o Withholding of toilet facilities, leading to defecation and urination in clothing
FULL REPORT:
web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510122005
Date: 19 January 2005
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Human rights not hollow words
An appeal to President George W. Bush on the occasion of his re-inauguration
Mr President,
In your inaugural address four years ago, you promised to be a leader who would "speak for greater justice". Since then, a much repeated promise of your administration has been that the USA will adhere to fundamental principles of human dignity and the rule of law, including in the context of the "war on terror". The National Security Strategy devotes an entire chapter to asserting that in its pursuit of security, the USA will "stand firmly for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity", including the rule of law. The National Strategy for Combating Terrorism concludes that "a world in which these values are embraced as standards, not exceptions, will be the best antidote to the spread of terrorism". Just last month, on Human Rights Day, you proclaimed that respect for human rights and the rule of law line the route to peace and security. Amnesty International agrees.
Your stated opposition to torture would appear on the face of it to be similarly principled. On 26 June 2003, for example, you issued a statement that:
"Torture anywhere is an affront to human dignity everywhere. We are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law…The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example."
In similar vein, on 26 June 2004, to mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, you stated that:
"The non-negotiable demands of human dignity must be protected without reference to race, gender, creed, or nationality. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law… America stands against and will not tolerate torture. We will investigate and prosecute all acts of torture and undertake to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment in all territory under our jurisdiction."
Of course, a government should not be assessed on its words alone, but also on its actions. For things may not be as officially described. As you yourself pointed out in your 26 June 2003 statement on torture, "notorious human rights abusers… have long sought to shield their abuses from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and denying access to international human rights monitors".
Your administration has as a matter of policy for more than three years denied international human rights monitors, including Amnesty International, access to detainees held by the USA in the "war on terror", in addition to routinely denying detainees access to the courts, legal counsel and relatives. In addition, US personnel have staged deceptions in order to subvert basic human rights protections and the rule of law. Certain detainees, for example, have been moved around or left unregistered in order that they can be hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The full extent of this practice remains unknown – last September General Paul Kern told the Senate Armed Services Committee that there may have been as many as 100 so-called "ghost detainees" in US custody in Iraq. An unknown number of detainees are believed to remain held in secret locations by the USA or with its connivance, amounting to "disappearance" in some cases......
The USA is alleged to have been involved in numerous secret transfers of detainees between itself and countries known to use torture, or to have employed extrajudicial abductions of individuals in order to subject them to executive detention and interrogation........
Amnesty International takes this opportunity to list some of the detention or interrogation techniques that are alleged to have been authorized or used by the USA during the "war on terror". Some of the techniques appear to have been tailored to specific cultural or religious sensitivities of the detainees, thereby introducing a discriminatory element to the abuse. Neither gender nor age has offered protection. Children, the elderly, women and men are reported to have been among the subjects of torture or ill-treatment. The following list does not claim to be exhaustive:
o Abduction
o Death threats
o Dietary manipulation
o Dogs used to threaten and intimidate
o Dousing in cold water
o Electric shocks, threats of electric shocks
o Excessive and cruel use of shackles and handcuffs, including "short shackling"
o Excessive or humiliating use of strip searches
o Exposure to weather and temperature extremes
o "False flag", ie making a detainee think his interrogators are not US agents
o Forced shaving, ie of head, body or facial hair
o Forcible injections
o Forced physical exercise
o Hooding and blindfolding
o Humiliation, eg forced crawling, forced to make animal noises, etc.
o Immersion in water to induce perception of drowning
o Incommunicado detention
o Induced perception of suffocation or asyphxiation
o Isolation for prolonged periods, eg months or more than a year
o Light deprivation
o Loud music, noise, yelling
o Photography as humiliation
o Physical assault, eg beating, punching, kicking
o Prolonged interrogations, eg 20 hours
o Racial and religious taunts, humiliation
o Religious intolerance, eg disrespect for Koran, religious rituals
o Secret detention
o Sensory deprivation
o Sexual humiliation
o Sexual assault
o Sleep adjustment
o Sleep deprivation
o Stress positions, eg prolonged forced kneeling and standing
o Stripping
o Strobe lighting
o Threats of reprisals against relatives
o Threat of transfer to third country to inspire fear of torture or death
o Threat of transfer to Guantánamo
o Threats of torture or ill-treatment
o Twenty-four hour lighting
o Withdrawal of "comfort items"
o Withholding of medication
o Withholding of food and water
o Withholding of toilet facilities, leading to defecation and urination in clothing
FULL REPORT:
web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510122005