Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

U.S. tells U.N. watchdog that torture is banned

GENEVA - The U.S. government told a U.N. watchdog Monday that all American officials - including intelligence agents - are barred from using torture in interrogating terror suspects and other prisoners.

American officials acknowledged, however, that there had been past mistreatment of detainees, and members of the U.N. panel expressed concern about how the United States defines torture as well as the U.S. delegation's refusal to give details about interrogation techniques used by the CIA.

The 141 signatories to the 1984 Convention Against Torture treaty take turns appearing before the U.N. Committee Against Torture. Criticism by the panel brings no penalties beyond pressure on the government. The committee is expected to issue conclusions on May 19.

Elsewhere ...

Liberia: Aid workers and U.N. peacekeepers are trading food for sex with young girls in Liberian camps housing those left homeless by years of war, an aid group said Monday. Save the Children, which surveyed nearly 160 children and about 170 adults, said they were repeatedly told of girls having sex with older men in exchange for money, food and other goods. The report did not give the nationality of the aid workers or peacekeepers involved.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Liberia, Jordan Ryan, said the survey was outdated because it was conducted nine months ago and much has improved since then. The camps that are the primary subject of the report are now closed, he said.

Iraq: Violence killed at least 34 people, including a U.S. soldier, as efforts to finish choosing the new Cabinet bogged down Monday in a web of conflicting interests. The deadliest attack occurred when a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad, killing five Iraqi civilians.

[Last modified May 9, 2006, 07:33:44]