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Torturers coming into the US from Latin America top AI's list |
WASHINGTON,
April 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A report released here
Wednesday by Amnesty International (AI) asserts that the U.S. "has
become a safe haven for torturers" as the government failed to
prosecute any of the 1,000 international torturers that fled to its
shores.
AI
charged in its report, " U.S.A.: A Save Haven for Torturers,"
that the United States government has "admitted harboring at least
1,000 as a safe haven for torturers from other parts of the world who
are fleeing justice."
The
U.S. government admits that up to 1,000 suspected torturers may have
entered the country, but has not prosecuted any of them despite the
passage in 1994 of a law permitting the prosecution of acts of torture,
the London-based rights group charged.
U.S.
authorities have failed to press charges even though they were notified
of the identities of several suspects and the evidence against them, the
group said.
"Despite
the presence of at least 150 suspected torturers in the United States,
in eight years the U.S. government has failed to prosecute a single
individual for committing torture, opting instead to ignore, deport or
cover up the problem," said William Schulz, executive director of
Amnesty International U.S.A.
"We
must not close the door to those who flee torture and oppression, but we
must arrest and prosecute those individuals who commit or order torture,
rape and murder," Schulz continued. "The U.S. must fulfill its
obligation under the law and make clear that we are not a safe haven for
torturers."
"Those
who tortured and murdered in other countries should not be able to evade
justice and live in the United States without fear of arrest and
prosecution," Schulz added. "The U.S. government is adept at
taking people into custody as it has shown by its detention of some
1,200 individuals following the attacks of September 11, the vast
majority of whom have been charged only with visa violations. How
ironic, then, that we have been unwilling to move against at least 150
people living in this country who there is good reason to believe are
responsible for far more serious crimes."
The
report names 13 people who entered or reside in the United States
accused of torture and other human rights violations in Cuba, Somalia,
Guatemala, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Haiti, Honduras
and Chile.
The
cover of the Amnesty report depicts Peruvian Army Major Tomas Ricardo
Anderson Kohatsu, accused of torturing two intelligence officers in 1997
by raping, beating and subjecting them to electrical shocks.
One
of the two victims, Leonor LaRosa, was left a paraplegic after suffering
serious damage to her spinal cord. The other, Mariela Lucy Barreto, was
found decapitated with her hands amputated.
In
March 2000, during a U.S. visit, Kohatsu was questioned by the U.S.
Justice Department regarding the allegations, but was allowed to return
to Peru after the Department of State intervened to prevent his arrest,
Amnesty said.
The
13 suspects named by Amnesty have already been subjected to civil
lawsuits or named in the press. The group said it did not name the other
torture suspects living in the United States to prevent them from
fleeing justice once again.
Amnesty
International has called on the George W. Bush Administration to
"demonstrate a commitment to the prosecution of torturers and human
rights abusers living in or traveling to the U.S. by providing funding
for an office within the Justice Department with that responsibility and
issuing an annual report in its progress."
Alistar
Hodgett, media director for AI's Washington D.C. office, told
IslamOnline in an interview that while there have been some comments
from U.S. government officials reported in the media, "AI has not
yet received a formal response from the Administration."
He
did go on to say that the organization has been "talking to key
leaders in the U.S. Congress" and that there "may be some
progress on the legislative front in the near future."
Hodgett
told IslamOnline that the U.S. "failed to live up to the
International Convention against Torture," which the it ratified in
1994 and incorporated it into U.S. law as 18 U.S.C. 2340A."
"The
failure to prosecute anyone in eight years illustrates a shameful track
record on the part of the U.S. given the number of individuals cited as
[known torturers]," Hodgett concluded.
With
additional reporting by Neveen A. Salem, IOL Washington D.C.
