A UNITED Nations special investigator has concluded that foreign intelligence agents sent to question US-held terrorism suspects in Guantánamo Bay had violated international human rights laws.
According to a report by Martin Scheinin, a Finnish diplomat and the UN special investigator for human rights, foreign agents visiting Guantánamo or secret US jails overseas committed “an internationally wrongful act” even if they just observed interrogations.
“They were acting in breach of their legal obligations in regard to the prohibition on torture and arbitrary detention,” said Mr Scheinin.
The US military has allowed intelligence and law enforcement agents from at least 18 countries to interrogate Guantánamo inmates since the detention centre opened in 2002, according to the Centre for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based group that provides legal representation to many Guantánamo prisoners.
According to the group, interrogators from Tunisia, Libya, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Jordan verbally threatened citizens from their countries held at Guantánamo, warning them that they would be abused at home if they didn’t co-operate.
Other countries that have sent interrogators include Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Morocco, the centre says.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment. US military officials have said that prisoners at Guantánamo are treated humanely and in accordance with international law.
Mr Scheinin praised President Obama’s pledge to close Guantánamo by the end of the year. But he said the administration and Congress should not ignore alleged abuses committed in the pursuit of terrorism suspects after the 9/11 attacks, urging them to press charges against anyone suspected of breaking US laws against torture or other crimes.
The report does not contain fresh details about operations at Guantánamo or the presence of foreign intelligence agents there. But Mr Scheinin said countries that sent agents to Guantánamo should hold them – or their superiors – legally accountable.
The UN report recommends that countries strengthen oversight of intelligence agencies by giving legislatures and other official watchdogs more power to conduct investigations and compel spies to divulge information.
– ( LA Times-Washington Post)