The Obama administration indicated on Wednesday that it will back away from a position held by the previous administration that claimed the United States is not obligated to abide by the UN Treaty Against Torture when operating on foreign soil. That’s the good news.
In comments made before the UN Committee Against Torture during hearings that began in Geneva today, acting U.S. legal advisor Mary McLeod told the panel, “The US is proud of its record as a leader in respecting, promoting and defending human rights and the rule of law, both at home and around the world.”
“The administration’s definition still appears to exclude places like the former “black site” prisons where the C.I.A. tortured terrorism suspects during the Bush years, as well as American military detention camps in Afghanistan and Iraq during the wars there.”
Keith Harper, U.S. ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, who also testified before the told the committee, stated, “We recognize that no nation is perfect, ours included.”
More specifically, McCleod added that “in the wake of 9/11 attacks” the United States “did not always live up to our own values. We crossed the line and we take responsibility for that.”
However, ahead of the two-day hearings, a position paper released by Obama’s National Security Council seemed to indicate that so-called “black sites” run by the CIA as well as current and former detention facilities established in Afghanistan and Iraq during the Bush years would not fall under the jurisdiction of the treaty.
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