New UN Scrutiny of U.S. Actions Under Patriot Act, Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib

U.S. ACTIONS UNDER PATRIOT ACT AND GUANTANAMO AND ABU GHRAIB
COME UNDER UN SCRUTINY

On September 14, 2001, Tony Oulai was a Roman Catholic pilot from Ivory
Coast on his way home to Los Angeles. Airport screeners found in his
luggage a stun gun, flight manuals and CIA videos. The FBI arrested him;
interrogated him; hit him repeatedly on his back and on his face. He was
held under inhumane conditions until Nov. 12, 2002, when he was deported
back to Ivory Coast, against his wishes.

His case is one of 180 reports collected by the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties
Institute, a center for human rights and peace law in Berkeley founded in
1965.

This report is one of 71 submitted by the Institute to the U.S. Department
of State and to UN bodies since March 2005 to help meet U.S. reporting
commitments under human rights treaties ratified by the U.S.


Unprecedented Steps by UN Committees on U.S. Human Rights Issues

Since May 2005, the UN Human Rights Commission and the UN Human Rights
Committee have taken unprecedented steps concerning alleged violations of
human rights by the U.S. Government in the "war on terror." These actions
are based on the UN Charter human rights Articles 55 and 56 and three
treaties the U.S. ratified (very quietly) in 1992 and 1994.

The UN Human Rights Commission, on April 21 for the first time established a
Special Rapporteur to "identify and promote best practices on measures to
counter terrorism that respect human rights and fundamental freedoms" and to
work closely with UN bodies. Mexico proposed the resolution, similar to
previous UN resolutions establishing Special Rapporteurs to study and act on
violations in Rwanda and Bosnia. The Commission members, officially
representing 53 governments including the U.S., took this action by
consensus. The Commission will hear reports from this Special Rapporteur for
the next three years.


U.S. Filed Second Report with UN Committee Against Torture

On May 6, 2005, the U.S. submitted its second report to the UN Committee
that enforces the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which the U.S. Senate ratified in
1994.

The second report was due in 1999, the third report in 2003.

This report, in 95 pages, does not cover the actions of local, state and
federal law enforcement officers at the GOP National Convention, or many
other recent well-known violations of human rights covered in the CAT. And
the report specifically refuses to discuss alleged violations at Abu Ghraib
or other prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq, and refuses to discuss Guantanamo,
saying they are not covered by the CAT. Article 5 (1.(a)) says it applies
"when the offenses are committed in any territory under its jurisdiction ...
"


U.S. Government Commitments under UN Human Rights Treaties

In 1992 and 1994 the U.S. had ratified three UN human rights treaties:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR -- ratified
1992); Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD -- ratified
1994), and CAT.

Under the U.s. Constitution, a treaty is "the supreme law of the land." In
ratifying these three treaties, the U.S. government made commitments to
submit periodic reports to the three UN committees that administer and
enforce the three treaties. The tool of enforcement is the mobilization of
shame: media coverage of accurate reports by national and local governments
on violations of rights by or within each nation. To date the U.S.
government has only filed one of three reports due to the Human Rights
Committee (that enforces the ICCPR in 1994) and one of five reports due to
the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD in 2001).


UN Committee Asks NGOs for Information on U.S. Violations

In view of U.S. Government refusal to file the required reports, on Aug. 3,
the UN Human Rights Committee took an unprecedented step. At its summer
meeting on enforcing the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, the members, including the representative from the U.S., decided to
act. (Committee members do not represent their governments but are experts
on human rights issues.)

The Committee sent an email to four NGOs in the U.S. asking for information
on "the effect of measures taken in the fight against terrorism" --
specifically "the implications of the Patriot Act on nationals as well as
non-nations" and in detention and treatment of prisoners in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Guantanamo, etc. (mentioning by name the places the U.S. had
said it didn't have to discuss under the Torture Convention).

The NGOs contacted were the ACLU, Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute,
World Organization for Human Rights USA, and The Tandem Project. The UN sent
this request to Meiklejohn Institute after the City Council of Berkeley sent
the Committee copies of the Institute's 574 page book report, "Challenging
U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11" (Prometheus Books), describing 180
violations by the U.S. in 30 categories, including failures to act on
environmental issues leading to many deaths after Katrina.

Using the reports in this book, on Aug. 27 Meiklejohn Institute met the
Committee's deadline and sent them reports of 70 alleged human rights
violations by the U.S. Government in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo and
under the PATRIOT Act.

The Committee says they will put this report on their web pages for all to
study. And this, and other reports from U.S. NGOs, will be the basis for
actions by the Committee when it meets in Geneva Oct. 17 to Nov. 3.

Next the Human Rights Committee set Oct. 17 as the date during its next
meetings in Geneva to hear briefly from NGOs from any nation. And it
has set a lunch date with U.S. NGOs in Geneva on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. for
"briefing on the USA."

Meiklejohn Institute is making plans to make one or two presentations on
these dates in Geneva before the Committee.


"Shadow" Reports and Berkeley City Council

Earlier Meiklejohn Institute had sent unofficial "shadow" reports to the
meeting of each Committee when it considered the first U.S. report, and sent
MCLI representatives to the sessions of the Human Rights Committee in NYC in
1995. Some of MCLI's reports were used by Committee members in questioning
the U.S. representatives.

Meiklejohn's work with the UN committees has had an impact on the City
Council of Berkeley, and on various City commissions, according to Ann Fagan
Ginger, Executive director. They now know that the U.S. government is
required to ask the city to file periodic reports under the three ratified
UN human rights treaties. This has brought the concept of the UN much closer
to the City Manager, Councilmembers, and City staff.

Ann Fagan Ginger, Executive Director, Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute
afg [at] mcli.org; 510) 848-0599; fax 510) 848-6008

Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, a center for human rights and peace
law founded in 1965. Institute web page is http://www.mcli.org.

We will be glad to send you:

* a review copy of the complete book, "Challenging U.S. Human Rights
Violations Since 9/11" (Prometheus Books 2005) with the reports marked that
relate to the Committee's request;

* an email containing the 71 reports we just submitted to the Committee.

UN Committee contact:

Mylene Bidault, Associate Human Rights Officer, Secretariat of the UN Human
Rights Committee, OHCHR, in Geneva: + 41 22 917 92 54.