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The United States has long been a leading defender of freedom and human rights around the world. Unfortunately, in a misguided approach to fighting terrorism, the United States has trampled on human rights guaranteed by our own Constitution and by the Geneva Convention treaties we have observed since World War II. In addition to being ineffective, this approach endangers the lives of U.S. soldiers who may be captured in this and future conflicts.
The United States may be holding hundreds, even thousands of secret or 'ghost detainees,' not just in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, but also in other secret locations around the world. That is why we are calling for the United States to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to meet with individuals in U.S. custody. We are also calling for an independent commission to investigate the hundreds of allegations of torture, abuse, and other illegal detention practices that appear to have been imposed upon individuals held in U.S. custody.
End Unjust Security Detention and Abuse: 10-Point Strategy
Since the revelation of the disturbing photographs of abuse at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the Secretary of Defense and others have rightly condemned and apologized for the shocking behavior the photos revealed. But the United States has much work to do to repair the damage done – to America's reputation and to those who have wrongly suffered. An apology is only the first step. Human Rights First has proposed a 10-point plan of action to ensure that no one is tortured in America's name.
Human Rights First's 10-Point Plan
HRF Letter on Undisclosed Locations
Abuse of Detainees: A Deeper Problem Behind the Photos
Human Rights First and a coalition of advocates sent President Bush a letter urging him to take immediate steps to ensure that the U.S. government respects the rights of all those who are detained. The letter says that photos of abuses that took place in Iraq show a problem that "is not an isolated incident, but rather illustrates a dangerous and illegal system of interrogation and detention in use by the United States in many places around the world."
Read the Letter
Statement on Security Detainee Treatment
Read Op-Ed by Kerry Kennedy and Human Rights First Executive Director Michael Posner
Reports on Abuse
Prohibition Against Torture
Reports on U.S. Interrogations Abroad
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/detainees/allegations.htm
Independent Commission on Torture
There are now scores of well-documented allegations of torture, abuse, and other unlawful detention practices imposed upon individuals held in U.S. custody at detention facilities from Iraq to Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world.
We believe that only an independent commission – much like the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) – can uncover the truth and make sure that torture never again happens in America's name.
Understanding what went wrong is essential not only to ensure that those who may be responsible are held accountable for any wrongdoing, but also to ensure that the effectiveness of the U.S. military and intelligence operations is not compromised by an atmosphere of permissiveness, ambiguity, or confusion.
The government has commissioned a variety of investigations into these incidents of torture and abuse, but these investigations suffer from significant flaws that leave important gaps in our understanding of why U.S. operations led to so many instances of torture and abuse.
Without a full understanding of what went wrong, the risk of abusive conduct – and the profound risks such conduct poses to U.S. interests – remains. In light of what we now know, failure to conduct an independent investigation into these issues, and to identify corrective action, would be a gross dereliction of duty
Learn more about the shortcomings of the government's investigations to date in Human Rights First Report Getting to Ground Truth. |
