WARSAW, Poland, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- In a written Opinion released to Worldrights on October 7, 2006, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that the secret detentions of alleged terrorist, Mr. Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi, and 25 other persons, including Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Waleed Mohammed bin Attash, previously believed to have been held at US- administered "black sites" in Eastern Europe and around the world, violated their internationally recognized human right to receive a fair trial.
In Opinion 29/2006, the UN Working Group stated that "[t]he detention of the 26 ... individuals falls outside of all national and international legal regimes pertaining to the safeguards against arbitrary detention. In addition the secrecy surrounding the detention and the interstate transfer of suspected terrorists may expose the persons affected to torture, forced disappearance, extra-judicial killing and in case they are prosecuted against, to the lack of the guarantees of a fair trial."
The Opinion also noted that it is "well known that secret detention without any legal controls augments for the detainee the practice of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment especially when under interrogation." The Working Group requested that the US Government "take the necessary steps to remedy the situation ... " of the 26 individuals concerned. Specifically, the UN Working Group found the US to be in violation of Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees detainees the right to proceedings before a court to decide without delay on the lawfulness of their detention or order their release if the detention is not lawful.
The UN Working Group adopted its opinion on September 1, 2006, and thereafter forwarded it to the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Office at Geneva. On September 6, 2006, President Bush acknowledged the existence of the CIA-run "black sites" and the administration's transfer of 14 key terrorist suspects previously held in secret CIA custody to the U.S. naval base prison at Guantanamo Bay. Worldrights filed its arbitrary detention complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on November 3, 2005, after the Washington Post reported the existence of the hidden prisons on November 2, 2005.
Included on the list of terror suspects referred to in the UN's opinion are:
Abu Zubaydah, a suspected senior al-Qaida operational planner, and possibly the first "black site" detainee, who was reportedly arrested in Pakistan in March, 2002, and was alleged to have been flown from Pakistan to Thailand and secretly held on an "active airbase" where he was said to have been "slapped, grabbed, made to stand long hours in a cold cell and finally handcuffed and strapped feet up to a water board until after 31 seconds he begged for mercy and began to cooperate;" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an al-Qaida member alleged to have master-minded the September 11th attacks; and Waleed Mohammed bin Attash, suspected of involvement in the USS Cole strike in 2000, and the September 11th attacks. President Bush characterized his arrest as a "major, significant find" in the US-administration's war against terrorism.
"The UN's decision on the illegality of CIA-run secret prisons serves notice on the Bush Administration that the US will be held accountable, and that no nation is above the law," stated Timothy Cooper, Executive Director of Worldrights. "If America concedes the moral high ground to subdue terrorism -- its effort will surely fail. By holding alleged terrorists in secrets prisons, by resorting to illegal torture tactics to extract questionable information, and by denying suspects their fundamental right to habeas corpus -- the Bush Administration only serves to fuel the jihadists' cause, increasing hatred for the US and bolstering Islamic recruits. In the struggle to end terrorism, the preservation of international human rights standards is of paramount importance to ultimate success," concluded Cooper.
Worldrights
CONTACT: Timothy Cooper of Worldrights, +1-202-361-0989
