The UN (and Laz) are sad......
U.N. Official Decries Anti-Terror Bill
AP ^ | 9/29/6 | PAUL HAVEN
sfgate.com
MADRID, Spain -- The top U.N. official on torture said Friday that a bill before the U.S. Congress could deprive terrorism suspects of a fair trial and was especially troubling after the mistreatment of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
The legislation, expected to clear a final congressional hurdle Friday and go to the White House for the president's signature, was condemned by many politicians, human rights groups and newspapers around the world as a violation of international law and an invitation to torture. At least two U.S. allies — Poland and Britain — declined to comment directly on the proposal.
Manfred Nowak, the U.N. anti-torture investigator, said the bill was particularly troubling following known abuses in U.S. detention facilities.
"I'm very disappointed," he told The Associated Press in Geneva. "It doesn't send the signal that we would have expected after Abu Ghraib."
In Poland, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrzej Sados would not speak directly about the legislation, but said "certain extraordinary tools in fighting terrorism are acceptable."
The British Foreign Office also would not comment specifically on the measure, but said it welcomed the Bush administration's decision to grant the International Red Cross access to 14 important detainees, such as former al-Qaida No. 3 Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. It reiterated Britain's view that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be closed.
Human rights groups were among the sharpest critics of the legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com .... |
