| Just days after George W. Bush reportedly assured
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello that
the US is not torturing prisoners during interrogation, an article
in today's New York Times quotes numerous US officials admitting
that US interrogators are using such methods as holding prisoners
in prolonged painful positions and withholding access to food and
water.
Amnesty International, which recently has met with Department
of Defense officials on this issue, renewed its call for President
Bush to condemn publicly all forms of torture, and for the
commander-in-chief to enforce the international prohibition on
torture in interrogation of suspects.
The Times article repeatedly quotes US officials claiming they
use only "acceptable techniques" for interrogation,
including sleep and light deprivation and the temporary
withholding of food, water, access to sunlight and medical
attention, allegedly even for a prisoner who had been shot.
"The tactics US officials openly admit to constitute
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or torture. These
statements by US officials are an admission of complicity in
torture," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of
Amnesty International USA. "Furthermore, transfer of
prisoners to the custody of other countries where they are likely
to be tortured is also a violation of international law. President
Bush should issue a public, unequivocal statement rejecting all
forms of torture by US officials and their foreign allies, just as
his father did in 1992. US and international law are clear and
absolute: torture is unacceptable regardless of the rationale or
threat."
Amnesty International has conducted three worldwide campaigns
against torture, the most recent concluding in 2002.
"While the US now may feel safer with several key suspects
apprehended, US troops in Iraq may well soon be placed in harm's
way and taken prisoner," Schulz warned. "American
citizens would be outraged if US servicemen or women are subjected
to illegal and brutal detention or interrogation such as the US
admits to be practicing."
The same techniques US officials reportedly are employing --
including hooding, holding in prolonged painful positions, and
denial of food and sleep -- were cited and condemned as torture in
the 2002 Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices in countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey,
China, and Haiti.
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