By KUNA
London : The Pentagon’s announcement that it has charged six “high-value” detainees at Guantanamo Bay raises yet more questions about the USA’s conduct in the “war on terror”, Amnesty International has said.
“Ever since the crime against humanity that was committed on 11 September 2001, Amnesty International has called on the USA to pursue justice and security within a framework of respect for human rights and the rule of law,” said Rob Freer, Amnesty International’s researcher on USA in a press release issued here late last night. It argued that the US government’s systematic failure to do this is illustrated not only by the treatment of these six detainees over the past five years or more, but also by the military commissions before which they are set to appear.
Five of the six men charged were held for more than three years in secret CIA custody at unknown locations before being transferred to Guant?namo in September 2006. “They were victims of enforced disappearance – a crime under international law – and the CIA has confirmed that at least one of them, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was subjected to waterboarding, simulated drowning, the human rights group said. “Waterboarding is torture, and torture is an international crime. No one has been held accountable for such crimes. Impunity in relation to the CIA program remains a hallmark of the USA’s conduct in the ‘war on terror,'” said the group. The sixth man charged is Mohamed al-Qahtani, who was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in Guant?namo in late 2002, it added. “Despite suffering sexual and other humiliation, sleep deprivation, hooding, stripping, loud music, white noise, and extremes of heat and cold, the Pentagon concluded that his treatment did not amount to inhumane treatment”, the organization claimed.
“The Pentagon has overarching influence over the operation of the military commissions,” said Rob Freer. Amnesty International said it is gravely concerned that information obtained under torture or other ill-treatment will form part of the case against these detainees. “This is just one flaw of a commission system set up precisely to obtain convictions under lower standards than would apply in normal courts. No US citizen would be tried under these military commissions, rendering them discriminatory, in violation of international law”, it contended.