NewsMax Wires
Friday, July 26, 2002

The U.N. Economic and Social Council recommended a draft addition to the Convention against Torture. It would establish independent regular visits to prisons to prevent torture and other such punishment.

Observers say U.S. officials feared the new plan could lead to monitors demanding access to prisoners and terror detainees being held by the United States. That could include potential demands to visit the more than 500 suspected al-Qaeda members and other Afghan prisoners being held on a U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. officials recommended a working group be set up to come up with a new plan, a measure that was voted down. The draft rule was adopted by a vote of 35-8 with 10 abstentions.

Washington feels the adopted measure, which is called an "optional protocol," would be unconstitutional and infringe on states' rights. The federal government cannot order states to open their prisons and jails for international inspectors.

The U.S. official, who spoke to United Press International on condition of anonymity, said, "We are looking at various options. I just can't go into it yet."

The United States is very committed to the convention, the official said, but "we are committed to coming up with a protocol everyone could support."

In contrast, human rights groups were content with what was approved.

National and international inspections are called for under the protocol, for example, said Debra Long, a program adviser for the Association for the Prevention of Torture, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

'Sustained Regular Visits'

The idea, she said, "is really to have sustained regular visits, which would complement periodic visits by the international body. And the aim of it is not necessarily to target countries but to have regular visits to build up an idea of best practices, what's really going on within a country and to make recommendations."

Reports would also be made to the Committee Against Torture by the international inspection group.

The United States' opposition was not novel, Long said.

"The concern we had [Wednesday] was, obviously the United States has been working actively to try and really derail the process," Long said. The United States does not want "international scrutiny of their places of detention.

"You know that sometimes the United States can throw its weight around on these issues," she said. "So we know that that's been happening. We were dismayed by the fact they were active against something which is actually an optional protocol."

The United States was not the only obstacle at the ECOSOC session Wednesday.

"We also thought the positions of Australia and Japan were quite scandalous," Long said. "They both voted against adoption of the text. Obviously Australia's position towards asylum seekers is something which has been controversial recently."

Tokyo was in opposition because "the prison system is traditionally very closed and secretive," said Rory Mungoven of Human Rights Watch.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

United Nations

A product that might interest you:
Promote NewsMax - Show the World What You Stand For!