
According to the respective committee report, released today, "The state party should cease to detain any person at Guantanamo Bay and close the detention facility".
The UN committee against torture reached this decision amid massive concerns over the fact that prisoners are detained for very long periods of time without knowing the exact reasons or grounds for which they are being held. Thus, according to the report, these detainees possess insufficient legal safeguards.
The supervisory commission, which is part of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, recommended US that this facility should be closed, while detainees should either be given a fair trial or be set free.
The watchdog received numerous complaints over the fact that the US has established secret prisons all over the world in which it is conducting alleged acts of torture and prisoners held there do not have access to medical treatments offered by the International Red Cross agency.
This is why, the committee urged the US to make any information concerning the existence of such facilities, public: "The state party should investigate and disclose the existence of any such facilities and the authority under which they have been established and the manner in which detainees are treated".
Another provision the report stipulated referred that all detainees should be safely placed in a country, where they do not face any political risks or repressions.
Related to this aspect, the US must eradicate all forms of brutal behavior and torture from its prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq, like sexual humiliation, mock drowning and use of dogs to cause fear, and should there be any cases of such facts, Washington was urged to investigate all claims in a systematic fashion, and prosecute all personnel found guilty.
US officials, currently in Geneva, to face a series of issues related to interrogation methods in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons in Iraq, have declined to make any comments.