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UN torture investigator fears abuse with new US law
GENEVA - The UN torture investigator charged on Friday that a new US law for tough interrogation of terrorism suspects would deprive people of the right to a fair trial before independent courts and could lead to mistreatment. Manfred Nowak, United Nations special rapporteur on torture, regretted that the bill ignored UN rights bodies which have said US interrogation methods and prolonged detentions violate international law. The Senate gave final approval on Thursday to the bill, a day after its passage by the House of Representatives. President George W. Bush is expected to sign it into law very soon.I am afraid that with the new law, the interrogation methods will not really change. Bush has said that harsh interrogation methods will continue and that is my concern, the Austrian law professor said in a telephone interview. The UN Committee against Torture and UN Human Rights Committee have found the US interrogation methods are unlawful and expressed concern at arbitrary detentions. The bill does not take into account substantive criticism from our side ... It is not the signal that I would have expected the US government and Congress would make in order to try to comply with our recommendations, Nowak said. The bill sets standards for interrogating suspects, but with complex rules that rights groups say could allow techniques that border on torture such as sleep deprivation. Posted by: Steve 2006-09-29 |
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