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<font size=3><a href="http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=rvBVOp2nnd&Content=532" eudora="autourl">http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=rvBVOp2nnd&Content=532</a><br><br>
Center for Constitutional Rights Takes Case Of U.S. Torture And Detention
Before O.A.S. Inter-American Commission for Human Rights <br><br>
Synopsis <br><br>
In Washington, D.C on March 3, 2005, The Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR) and other Petitioners today went before the Inter-American
Commission for Human Rights to argue that the U.S. continues to violate
its own treaties as well as international and domestic law in its
treatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere. The United
States is a member of the Organization of American States and signed the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in 1948. <br><br>
based on requests by the Center for Constitutional Rights and others, the
Commission originally issued Precautionary Measures in March 2002,
requesting that the U.S. Government take the urgent measures necessary to
have the legal status of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay determined by a
competent tribunal. In 2003, the Commission requested that the U.S.
provide information, including their policies and practices, regarding
the treatment of individuals detained in other facilities; and in 2004,
the Commission requested that the U.S. investigate and prosecute
officials responsible for the torture of detainees, including
high-ranking officials accountable through superior responsibility.
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CCR requested the hearing to update the Commission on new information and
documents that have come to light about the U.S. Government’s treatment
of detainees at Guantánamo and elsewhere, and to seek to extend the
Measures to cover the potential use of information obtained through
torture in ongoing military and judicial proceedings. Petitioners
also responded to the December 2004 submission by the U.S. Government,
which continues to argue that the Commission lacks jurisdiction to issue
precautionary measures to the U.S. and now inaccurately claims that
domestic remedies must be exhausted through the habeas petitions and
military tribunals, despite the fact that the Bush Administration has
done everything possible to impede detainees’ access to the courts.
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Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Maria LaHood, who argued for
CCR at the hearing said, “The Bush Administration has consistently and
blatantly violated its obligations under international law in relation to
the detention and torture of detainees. As a country, we have been
internationally condemned for our actions, and it is time for those who
are truly responsible to be held accountable. We hope the
Commission will act on the information we have provided today and
continue to put pressure on the U.S. government to comply with its legal
obligations.”<br><br>
The Center for Constitutional Rights has also filed a war crimes
complaint with the German Prosecutor to hold Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto
Gonzales and other high-ranking officials accountable for the torture and
abuse at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. CCR filed the first suit in U.S.
court on behalf of the detainees at Guantánamo in early 2002 and won in
the Supreme Court in June 2004, and also has cases pending against
officials responsible for the torture and rendition of Canadian citizen
Maher Arar and against the private government contractors at Abu
Ghraib.<br>
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Also on March 3, the Inter-American Commission will hear testimony on
slavery and other human rights violations committed against the Imoklee
workers in Florida, and CCR has signed onto testimony by a coalition of
human rights organizations. On Friday, March 4, the OAS heard
testimony from CCR allies challenging the United States’ failure to meet
its obligations under international law on the right to
housing.<br><br>
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