DAILY NATION
Thursday December 14 2017
GENEVA,
The UN's top expert
on torture says reports from sources indicated at least one inmate was
still being tortured at the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay and
reiterated his request to visit.
Nils
Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture, said he had received
information that torture using noise and vibrations was continuing
against one of the suspected 9/11 plotters being held at Guantanamo.
BAN
He
accused Washington of violating an international torture ban and also
criticised the country for not holding US officials accountable for
using abusive practices in the past.
Melzer
pointed out that a US Senate Intelligence Committee report published
three years ago acknowledged the Central Intelligence Agency's use of
torture in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
"To
this day, however, the perpetrators and policymakers responsible for
years of gruesome abuse have not been brought to justice, and the
victims have received no compensation or rehabilitation," he said on
Wednesday in a statement.
"By failing
to prosecute the crime of torture in CIA custody, the US is in clear
violation of the Convention against Torture," he said, warning that
Washington was "sending a dangerous message of complacency and impunity
to officials in the US and around the world."
Melzer voiced particular concern about detainees who had been held for long periods of time in almost complete isolation.
ISOLATION
He
highlighted the case of Ammar al-Baluchi, the nephew of alleged 9/11
mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who himself stands accused of
arranging the financing for the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.
Al-Baluchi
was named 153 times in the Senate report, and is said to have suffered
"relentless torture" at CIA "black sites" for three and a half years
before being moved to Guantanamo Bay, where the torture is reported to
continue, Wednesday's statement said.
"Mr
al-Baluchi has been held in isolation at a severely restricted-access
facility at Guantanamo Bay for more than a decade," Melzer said.
"In
addition to the long-term effects of past torture, noise and vibrations
are reportedly still being used against him, resulting in constant
sleep deprivation and related physical and mental disorders," he said.
The UN expert alleged that al-Baluchi was not receiving adequate medical attention for those disorders.
Melzer
stressed that the international ban on torture and ill-treatment was
"absolute" and "one of the most fundamental norms of international law."
OBAMA
"No circumstances, however exceptional and well-argued, may be invoked to justify torture," he insisted.
He urged Washington to "live up to its legacy, to end its policy of impunity and to bring its own perpetrators to justice."
The
UN expert also reiterated a long-standing request to conduct an
official visit to the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and to interview
inmates.
"I very much regret that,
despite repeated requests, my predecessors and I have consistently been
refused access to Guantanamo," he said.
Former
US President Barack Obama outlawed brutal interrogation techniques like
water boarding, used by the CIA following the 9/11 attacks. He also
attempted throughout his presidency to shutter Guantanamo.
But
his successor Donald Trump has said he wants to send more "bad dudes"
to Guantanamo and spoke positively about torture during his election
campaign.
He has however since said
he will follow the advice of his top aides, including Defence Secretary
Jim Mattis, who opposes the practice.
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