US defends treatment of terror suspects

The United States today rejected criticism from a UN-appointed expert that its practice of sending suspects without judicial review to countries where they may be tortured was a violation of international law.

Stephen Toole, who heads a United Nations’ panel on enforced disappearances, told the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council that he was “gravely concerned” with the practice of the terrorism suspect transfers – or “extraordinary rendition” for aggressive interrogation in another nation – and the operation of secret prisons abroad as part of the war on terror.