US domestic torture

* ms alexandrovna:

"Report: Treatment of US suspects at home mirrors that of terror suspects in military custody

Human Rights advocates see discrepancies between the official US Government account and a non-government organization (NGO) “shadow report,” and cite disturbing examples of human rights abuses that have gone unchecked within the US and unreported by the official government report to the UN Human Rights Committee.

Included in the shadow report are several examples of police brutality and prisoner abuse and torture that not only violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Conventions against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment (CAT), but also the United States Constitution.

The USG official report and the “shadow report” submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee will be discussed at hearings scheduled to begin on July 17, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The committee holds hearings every four years to review the compliance status of member nations who are signatories to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) -one of the two treatises that together make up what is commonly referred to as the International Bill of Rights. The US signed and ratified the treaty in 1992.

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A shadow report is an NGO rebuttal to the official State presentation.

One of the key sections of this report deals specifically with prisoner abuse and torture within the United States and of United States citizens by authority figures. While disturbing in and of themselves, the cases presented by the shadow report as examples of ICCPR and CAT violations also show troubling similarities between detainee abuse allegations in US military prisons around the world and US domestic prisons.
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Evidence provided in the Burge cases paint a picture not unlike what has emerged from the Abu Ghraib scandal, or allegations relating to abuse by US authorities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and other US detention facilities in the Middle-East.
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Despite this, Ritchie points out that “not a single officer or member of the chain of command has been prosecuted for acts of torture or the conspiracy to obstruct justice required to cover up these crimes. In fact, most of the officers involved have never been sanctioned in any manner whatsoever.
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Many of the victims, however, remain incarcerated even though their confessions were elicited illegally both under federal law as well as in violation of CAT, including Article 15.
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Other areas covered in the “shadow report” include immigration, child protection, the death penalty, and many other areas where human rights advocates believe excessive abuse and violations of international treatise not only happen abroad, but also occur - and violate basic human rights - within the United States. Furthermore, many of the NGO advocates point out that the U.S Constitution, on which the international treatise are based, prohibits many of the human rights abuses already.

The UN Human Rights Committee hearings begin on July 17. The final report is scheduled to be released on July 28.”

crimes against humanity, here, there and everywhere. will anyone notice?