US quizzed on torture claims

ITV
May. 05, 2006

The US is facing tough questioning by the UN over claims of torture at terror detention centres such as Guantanamo Bay.

The UN Committee against Torture will quiz the US delegation over interrogation methods and secret overseas prisons.

It will be the first time America's record on the treatment of terror prisoners has been scrutinised since 9/11.

It comes as two human rights groups - Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union - accused Washington of allowing the torture of foreign terrorism suspects. They will hand over "shadow reports" to the UN Committee.

Amnesty International submitted a similar report earlier this week alleging that torture and inhumane treatment were "widespread" in US-run detention centres in Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba and elsewhere.

"It's going to be the very first time that the US is going to be held internationally accountable for its record on terror since the fight against terrorism began in 2001," Jennifer Daskal, of Human Rights Watch said.

The United States is holding hundreds of al-Qaeda and other suspects arrested since the September 11, 2001 attacks on America at detention facilities in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.