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U.N. Torture Prevention Plan Adopted Despite U.S. Opposition
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The U.S. has been criticized for its treatment of hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda detainees in Guantanamo Bay
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UNITED
NATIONS, July 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A new U.N.
protocol on torture prevention was adopted Wednesday, July 24, despite
stiff
U.S.
opposition to allowing outside inspection of individual countries'
prisons and terrorist detention centers.
The
“optional protocol” to the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the
U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) by 35 votes to eight with 10
abstentions and will now go to the U.N. General Assembly for approval.
The
United States
, which has been criticized for its treatment of hundreds of Taliban
and Al-Qaeda detainees at its Marine base in
Guantanamo Bay
,
Cuba
, had tabled an amendment seeking further debate on the text of the
treaty, saying it was flawed and lacked consensus, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
However,
the amendment was roundly defeated by 29 votes to 15, with the
protocol’s supporters accusing the
United States
of seeking to permanently derail the treaty.
It
was the second time in two weeks that the
United States
has found itself outnumbered at the United Nations.
On
July 12, it was forced to compromise on its demands that
U.S.
peacekeepers be permanently excluded from prosecution by the
International Criminal Court.
According
to the United Nations website, the objective of the torture protocol
was to establish a system of regular visits by independent
international and national bodies to centers where people were
deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The
experts making the visits would then be able to make recommendations
on practical measures to prevent torture.
The
Convention against Torture defines torture as “any act by which
severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally
inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a
third person information or a confession….” (Article 1).
It
may be “inflicted by or at the instigation of or acquiescence of a
public official or other person acting in an official capacity.”
Pushing
for its adoption, the protocol’s chief sponsor Cost Rica said it
would provide a “crucial verification machinery” to ensure that
signatories to the 1984 U.N. Convention Against Torture fulfill their
obligations.
The
Cost Rican representative pointed out that despite the best efforts of
the United Nations and other groups, the regular use of torture
remained widespread in many countries.
The
United States
, however, warned that any human rights instrument that could not be
adopted unanimously would be unenforceable and therefore more
discussion was essential to reach a consensus.
It
also argued that external inspections would be contrary to the
U.S.
constitution because they would intrude on the federal rights of
individual states.
The
U.S.
amendment drew the support of some uncomfortable allies for
Washington
, including
China
,
Cuba
,
Iran
and
Libya
, which have been widely accused of condoning and practicing torture.
The
eventual adoption of the protocol was welcomed by human rights groups
who had condemned the
United States
for trying to lay the “kiss of death” on the treaty.
“We
are delighted,” said Joanna Weschler, the Human Rights Watch
observer representative to the United Nations.
“This
protocol is a very important instrument with the rare potential to
actually prevent torture rather than just penalize it,” Weschler
said.
“It
seems most governments saw through what was another attempt by the
United States
to try and use the issue of consensus as a sort of veto.”
The
U.N. Convention Against Torture was adopted by the General Assembly in
1984 and came into force four years later.
The
treaty has been ratified by 130 countries, including the
United States
in 1994.
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