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.

He did not explicitly mention the United States or any of what he called the “increasing number of states” which are repressing opposition groups in the name of fighting terrorism.

“Disappearance is often a precursor to torture and even to extrajudicial execution,” he told the council.

Paula Barton, a diplomat at the US mission to the United Nations in Geneva, rejected Toole’s criticism and said renditions have been used “for decades” by the US and other countries to transfer terrorist suspects.