Home > AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Response to President Bush

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Response to President Bush

by Open-Publishing - Saturday 4 June 2005
2 comments

Democracy International Prison Governments USA

AI Index: AMR 51/087/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 149
31 May 2005

USA: Response to President Bush

President Bush again failed to address longstanding concerns regarding US detention policies and practices in the context of the "war on terror", Amnesty International said in response to his comments today.

At Guantánamo, the US has operated an isolated prison camp in which people are confined arbitrarily, held virtually incommunicado, without charge, trial or access to due process. Not a single Guantánamo detainee has had the legality of their detention reviewed by a court, despite the Supreme Court ruling of last year.

"Guantánamo is only the visible part of the story. Evidence continues to mount that the US operates a network of detention centres where people are held in secret or outside any proper legal framework -? from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond," said Amnesty International.

US interrogation and detention policies and practices during the "war on terror", have deliberately and systematically breached the absolute prohibition of torture and Ill-treatment. Individuals held in US custody have been transferred for interrogation to countries known to practice torture.

"If President Bush and his administration are serious about freedom and human dignity they should recommit to the rule of law and human rights."

Amnesty International continues to call on the US administration to:

  • end all secret and incommunicado detentions;
  • grant the International Committee of the Red Cross full access to all detainees including those held in secret locations;
  • ensure recourse to the law for all detainees;
  • establish a full independent commission of inquiry into all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions and "disappearances";
  • bring to justice anyone responsible for authorizing or committing human rights violations

Background Information

When asked to comment about Amnesty International?s report during a White House Briefing President Bush said: "I’m aware of the Amnesty International report, and it’s absurd. (?) The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world. When there’s accusations made about certain actions by our people, they’re fully investigated in a transparent way."

For more information, please see:
"Guantánamo and beyond: The continuing pursuit of unchecked executive power": http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAMR510632005

"USA: Human dignity denied: Torture and accountability in the ’war on terror’ ":
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAMR511452004

Guantánamo Bay: a human rights scandal
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/guantanamobay-index-eng

AI Report 2005 entry
http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/usa-summary-eng

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510872005

Forum posts

  • Bravo Amnesty! The American Government is guilty. Also the Bush Administration tries to divert the attention to other abuse of human rights: child labour and prostitutions, slavery and WWII, it is clear that Amnesty in his report told the true.

    • Don’t you love the liars at Bushco. Their latest hilarious lies are that the Koran got accidently splashed by water from water balloons (like there is just one big party going on there) and then a soldier accidently peed through a vent and some splashed on another Koran, but they repremanded him (even though it was totally an accident) I guess he was so drunk from the party that he didn’t see the vent that he was pissing on.....I’m amazed that they didn’t say that the pet dogs ate a Koran. Instead they claim the "detainees" were the ones who flushed the Koran down the toilet not the Americans...yeah right!

      Either these excuse makers at the Pentagon who investigated themselves are totally stupid, or they think we are totally stupid. Who could believe these results of that investigation? We have all seen the dog cages the "detainees" live in there, who could for a moment think this is a party pad?

      They really need to get some other people to make up their excuses for them this current crop is way too unbelievable.