Brian, The USA already does this, and has done so for years. The State Department regularly puts out a comprehensive reports on the human rights situation in each country. The reports, going back to 1993, can be found here: state.gov
I am very surprised that you don't know this, as these reports usually generate a fair bit of press when they are released.
So your plan is to what? Go into every country and make sure they aren't torturing prisoners?
In each report there is a section on torture. For instance, in the
Tajikistan
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The law prohibits such practices; however, there were reports that government security officials employed them.
Torture occurred during the year, though to a lesser extent than in 2003. Security officials, particularly from the Ministry of Interior (MOI), continued to use systematic beatings to extort confessions, torture, sexual abuse, and electric shock during interrogations. During the year, several persons alleged to be members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an extremist Islamist political organization, and members of their families claimed that they were tortured and beaten while in police custody (see Sections 1.d. and 2.b.). One person said the beating resulted in permanent hearing loss.
Beatings and mistreatment were also common in pretrial detention facilities, and the Government took minimal action against those responsible for the abuses (see Section 1.d.). In May 2003, following the arrest and detention of Shamsiddin Shamsiddinov, deputy chair of the opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRP), authorities allegedly beat him and used electric shock torture (see Section 1.e.).
In the southern regions of the country, citizens made numerous complaints of harassment and abuse committed by some border guards who were involved in drug trafficking. Afghan refugees also alleged continued harassment and mistreatment by law enforcement authorities (see Section 2.d.).
In July 2003, according to two international human rights groups, nine high-ranking police and Interior Ministry officials in Sughd Province were convicted of using torture to force confessions from falsely accused suspects. They were sentenced to 3 to 7 years in jail.
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening for an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 incarcerated persons. Prisons were generally overcrowded, unsanitary, and disease-ridden. The spread of tuberculosis was a serious problem, and there were reports that a few prisoners died of hunger. According to the law, family members were allowed access to prisoners only after indictment. However, family members of prisoners sentenced to death were neither told the date of the execution nor allowed access to the prisoner's effects until the sentence was carried out. On May 10, President Rahmonov signed a moratorium on the death penalty.
There was one prison that held only former members of so-called "power ministries," such as the police, intelligence and secret officers, and the military. Men and women were held separately, and juveniles were held separately from adults. Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted prisoners.
From January to September, the ICRC was allowed access to prisons controlled by the MOJ, including pretrial detention centers. At year's end, the ICRC and the MOJ were in negotiations to regain access to all of the MOJ's prisons. During the year, local NGOs also made prison visits on behalf of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); however, the NGO visitors submitted to Government conditions.
So clearly, the USA knows which countries torture prisoners. |
