Jump to content

UN's Pillay: Guantanamo prison a 'clear breach of international law'


News_Editor

Recommended Posts

UN's Pillay: Guantanamo prison a 'clear breach of international law'

2012-01-24 15:40:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) human rights chief on Monday criticized the failure of the United States government to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations which took place there.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay spoke out against the U.S. government on its failure to close Guantanamo. The prison was opened in 2012 and it remains open despite President Barack Obama ordering its closure within 12 months on January 22, 2009.

"The facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained - indefinitely - in clear breach of international law," Pillay stated, expressing disappointment that instead of closing the facility, the U.S. Government has 'entrenched' a system of arbitrary detention with the new National Defense Authorization Act.

The act was signed into law late last month and includes a controversial component that allows the U.S. military to indefinitely detain terror suspects, including American citizens arrested in the United States, without charge. The piece of legislation drew severe criticism from human rights organizations.

"This piece of legislation contravenes some of the most fundamental tenets of justice and human rights, namely the right to a fair trial and the right not to be arbitrarily detained," said Pillay. "Nobody should ever be held for years on end without being tried and convicted, or released," she stressed.

Pillay reminded the U.S. Government that just as States have the right and duty to protect their people and territory from terrorist acts, it also has the obligation under international human rights law to ensure that individuals deprived of their liberty can have the lawfulness of their detention reviewed before a court.

"Where credible evidence exists against Guantanamo detainees, they should be charged and prosecuted. Otherwise, they must be released," Pillay underlined. She urged the Government, so long as Guantanamo remains open, to ensure that conditions of detention comply fully with human rights standards under international law.

The UN human rights chief also urged that individuals found to have perpetrated, ordered, tolerated or condoned torture and ill-treatment at the prison should be brought to justice. She also voiced her concern over the government's failure to allow independent human rights monitoring of the detention conditions at Guantanamo.

tvn.png

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-01-24

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.








  • Topics

  • Latest posts...

    1. 179

      Best Song of Past 100 Years? Your Vote?

    2. 26

      Investment for income stream for a Thai

    3. 212

      How to retire in Thailand

    4. 67

      Any benefits in antibiotics

    5. 0

      Rising Baht Sparks Fears of Another 'Tom Yam Kung' Crisis

    6. 0

      Campaigners Urge Handout Recipients to Avoid Alcohol Amid Payout Uncertainty

    7. 0

      Denmark Considers Importing Medications from Thailand and Asia to Cut Costs

    8. 0

      Destination Thailand Visa Sparks Interest, Faces Future Hurdles

    9. 6,578

      Australian Aged Pension

    10. 30

      Expert Urges Government To Raise Tax For Foreign Condo Buyers

    11. 626

      I Love Donald Trump

    12. 23

      Change from 800,000 in bank to using income and money in bank

    13. 51

      Thai Baht is ruining my retirement

×
×
  • Create New...
""