Martelen 29

The New Standard bericht: 'Human Rights Body Slams U.S. Treatment of Youth Detainee
An international human rights commission has ruled that the detention of a Canadian youth at the US prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba presents a "serious and urgent risk of irreparable harm" to the detainee. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also expressed concerns that statements obtained from Khadr through alleged torture and inhumane treatment could be used against him in a military tribunal. The case concerned Guantánamo detainee Omar Khadr, captured in 2002 by US forces in Afghanistan after a firefight and later transported to Guantánamo Bay. Khadr was 15 years old at the time of his capture. As reported by The NewStandard last week, the US government held Khadr without access to a lawyer for over two years and finally charged him last November with conspiring with Al-Qaeda and throwing a grenade that killed Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer, a commando with the US Army Special Forces. Khadr has alleged that interrogators and US military personnel have tortured and humiliated him during his detention. In an attempt to stop Khadr’s trial by military tribunal, his lawyers brought the case before the IACHR, an independent organ of the Organization of American States established to protect human rights in the Western Hemisphere. They accused the government of violating Khadr’s rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child by detaining him with adult detainees, denying him access to counsel, and subjecting him to humiliation and torture. In ruling on the case Tuesday, the IACHR faulted the US government for only providing general statements about its prohibitions on torture during last week’s hearing and for failing to respond specifically to Khadr’s allegations of mistreatment. "Similarly," wrote the Commissioners, "in response to questions raised by the Commission during the hearing concerning whether the state has taken any measures to investigate [Khadr’s] allegations of abuse, the state’s representative indicated that it was the policy of the United States to investigate all credible allegations of torture but otherwise declined to provide further information, citing privacy concerns."' Lees verder:
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2985