US Faces UN Questioning On Torture

Questions To Focus On Secret CIA Prisons, War On Terror

(CBS/AP) 
The committee is demanding the United States explain why it established secret prisons, what rules and methods of interrogation it employs, and whether the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush assumes responsibility for alleged acts of torture committed by American agents outside U.S. territory.

"In view of the numerous allegations of torture and ill-treatment of persons in detention under the jurisdiction of (the United States) and the case of the Abu Ghraib prison, what specific measures have been taken to identify and remedy problems in the command and operation of those detention facilities?" the committee has asked.

It has also questioned more specifically whether there has been any "independent investigation regarding the possible responsibility of the high-ranking officials of the administration, including the CIA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the armed forces, for authorizing or consenting in any way" to acts of torture.

Criticism by the U.N. panel brings no penalties beyond international scrutiny. The committee is expected to issue conclusions when it wraps up its session May 19.

Washington's report said President Bush "has made clear that the United States stands against and will not tolerate torture under any circumstances."

It noted that it has a separate system of military justice for its armed forces personnel, which is responsible for handling claims of abuse from detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Allegations concerning CIA activities are currently under review by the agency's Inspector General, the report said.

"When allegations of abuses arise, they in all cases will be investigated and, if substantiated, prosecuted," the report said.

Washington neither confirms nor denies allegations of secret prisons on grounds that it refuses to comment on intelligence matters.

But the committee cautioned that enforced disappearances of suspects "can be considered a form of torture" and asked for details on the U.S. policy of "rendition."

U.S. officials have acknowledged flying up to 150 of the most serious terror suspects from one country to another, but said they receive "diplomatic assurances" from authorities that they won't use torture on the detainees they receive.

But rights groups say some have been tortured anyway and that the United States is violating the treaty in other ways.

"There are certain things that are not permissible no matter what," said Jennifer Daskal, who heads Human Rights Watch's U.S. advocacy program. "Torture is one of those things, and there is no justification for torture."