Following the statement today by Secretary of State legal adviser John Bellinger that the United States is denying the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to prisoners in U.S. custody, Human Rights First called on Washington to explain its position and move immediately to allow ICRC monitors access to all U.S.-held detainees.
“The United States has a responsibility to afford the Red Cross access to all prisoners in its custody,” said Deborah Pearlstein, Director of Human Rights First’s U.S. Law and Security Program. “Especially in light of overwhelming evidence that the United States has had a problem with torture and abuse of detainees in its custody, it is essential that the Red Cross be permitted to function as an independent monitor of detainees’ condition.”
Coming on the heels of a growing number of reports about the use of secret detention centers abroad where the United States has held prisoners, Mr. Bellinger’s remarks confirm the official secrecy still surrounding U.S. detention operations.
“Holding prisoners off official roles or beyond the scrutiny of independent Red Cross observers only raises more troubling questions about the United States’ commitment to abide by U.S. and international law prohibiting indefinite detention without any judicial process, as well as prohibitions on torture or other cruel treatment of detainees,” said Pearlstein.
Human Rights First has reported previously on the U.S. practice of holding “ghost detainees” – keeping prisoners off official rolls and preventing them from meeting with Red Cross monitors – both at known U.S. detention facilities and in secret detention facilities in officially undisclosed locations.
The latest Human Rights First report, published earlier this year, underscored the necessity of independent monitoring: “When governments cloak detention in a veil of secrecy, by holding prisoners incommunicado or at undisclosed locations, the democratic system of public accountability cannot function.”
Read Human Rights First report Behind the Wire here: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/us_law/PDF/behind-the-wire-033005.pdf
Contact:
Kirsten Powers at (212) 845-5260
