Expert: U.N. Seeks U.S. Detention Centers-investigating secret faclilities

[maddezmom]

VIENNA, Austria - U.N. human rights experts have begun an investigation into U.S. detention facilities for terrorist suspects and allegations that there are secret prisons, one of the project leaders said Wednesday.

Manfred Nowak, the U.N.'s special expert on torture, said some undeclared holding areas could include U.S. Navy ships in international waters. He said there were "serious" allegations to that effect from Amnesty International and other non-governmental human rights groups.

"I have heard these rumors and we have to follow them up," he told The Associated Press, urging Washington to cooperate with the investigation.

Officials at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in Vienna refused to comment.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050629/ap_on_re_us/un_us_terrorist_suspects;_

[mom cat]

1. More Info from the UN high Comminnioner on Human Rights:

Geneva, 24 June 2005 - States must take effective measures to prevent all acts of torture or cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and strengthen efforts to fight impunity, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on torture, the Board of Trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and the UN Committee against Torture said in a joint statement today.

The statement issued to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, said that the lives of individuals, their well-being and sense of security continue to be scarred by torture on a daily basis, and that torture is reported with growing frequency from all regions of the world.

The statement also called for the universal ratification of the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol.
More...