states, have colluded inthe secret detention of 'terrorismsuspects',
UN investigators have reported.
An extensive report, released on Wednesday, paints a disturbing
picture of a systematic secret detention program involving many
countries.
Officials found that secret detention "may even amount to acrime
against humanity".
The 222-page document, which will be presented at a forthcoming
meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, is the result of several years
of investigation, and notes that secret detention is "a manifold human
rights violation that cannot be justified under any circumstances".
Despite clear laws that outlaw the secret detention of prisoners in
both war and peace, the investigators concluded that in the years
following the 9/11 attacks, several countries took part in the US-run
secret detention program.
Complicity
Criticisms of US detention policy since 2001 are nothing new, but the
report will make for uncomfortable reading for leaders in countries
accused of colluding with Washington in theCIA's now defunct rendition
and detention program.
The UK, Canada, Australia and Germany are all accused of"taking
advantage of the situation of secret detention," by sending questions
and receiving information from prisoners held in proxy detention.
The report also notes that the US"asked partners with poor human
rights records to secretly detain and interrogate persons on its
behalf," accusing Jordon, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Pakistan, Ethiopia,
Djibouti, and possibly Uzbekistan of holding prisoners on behalf of
the CIA.
The authors admit that some of the claims of complicity cannot be
confirmed, but say the"consistency of many of the detailed allegations
provided separately by the detainees adds weight" to arguments placing
the countries at the centre of an international extra-legal detention
system.
While many of the allegations in the report date back to the Bush
years, investigators criticize Barack Obama, the US president, for not
going far enough in overhauling the system he inherited on taking
office.
While the report acknowledges Obama's achievements, it says there is
more to do, including revealing the whereabouts of prisoners who have
disappeared in the system.
"Clarification is required as to whether detainees were held in CIA
'black sites' in Iraq and Afghanistan or elsewhere when President
Obama took office, and,if so, what happened to the detainees who were
held at that time," the report says.
Disappearances
The issue of what has happened to prisoners held in US secret
detention in the past extends beyond those who were in US custody when
Obama took office.
The report details the case of a prisoner who disappeared beforeBush
left the White House, Mustafa Setmariam Naser.
The author of a number of books and other publications on Islam and
jihad, the Syrian and Spanish national was seized in Pakistan in2005
and handed over to the US authorities. He has not been heard of since,
although last year the FBI said he was no longer in US custody.
A June 2009 statement from the CIA on the issue of Naser's whereabouts
said that the agency "could neither confirm nor deny the existence or
nonexistence of records responsive to your request," adding that even
if the CIA did have the records, they would be classified.
Campaigners now believe that Naser could be in Syrian custody and are
calling on the US government to reveal where he isbeing held.
The report also attacks the Obama administration for its treatment of
prisoners in Afghanistan, specifically those held in a prison at
Bagram Airbase, describing the situation there as one of "great
concern".
The US is holding around 650 prisoners at Bagram. Earlier this month
the Obama administrationreleased a list of their names, thefirst time
prisoners held in Afghanistan have been formally identified.
The UN investigators urged the USto release additional information,"on
the citizenship, length of detention and place of capture ofall
detainees currently held" at the prison.
Reactions
Accusations of complicity in the US rendition program have prompted a
furious reaction fromsome of the governments singledout by the report.
The UK, which is accused of complicity in the cases "of
severalindividuals, including Binyam Mohamed, Salahuddin Amin, Zeeshan
Siddiqui, Rangzieb Ahmed and Rashid Rauf," rejected the report
as"unsubstantiated and irresponsible".
"There is no truth in the suggestion that it is our policy to collude,
solicit or participate in abuses of prisoners," a spokesman for the
British foreignoffice said, adding that any debate on the issue "needs
to be informed by more than unsubstantiated rumor and allegation".
But the report concludes that secret detention is a reality that needs
to be addressed.
"The evidence gathered by the four experts for the present study
clearly show that many states, referring to concerns relating to
national security - often perceived or presented as unprecedented
emergencies or threats - resort to secret detention," it says.
"With very few exceptions, too little has been done to investigate
allegations of complicity."
PHOTO CAPTION
A mobile guard tower stands over a camp at the US military prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in October 2009.
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