AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

(Washington, DC) -- In response to the Department of State's release today of its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Amnesty International said that while the report provides a comprehensive review of the global situation, a major chapter is missing -- a section focusing on the United States' own human rights record. The Bush Administration's practice of transferring detainees in the 'war on terror' to countries cited by the State Department for their appalling human rights records actually turns the report into a manual for the outsourcing of torture.

"This report by the U.S. government provides a thorough review of today's human rights practices around the globe, except for one glaring omission -- its own record," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Amnesty International USA's Executive Director. "The United States government considers itself a moral leader on human rights issues, but its record of indefinite and arbitrary detentions, secret 'black sites' and outsourced torture in the 'war on terror' turns it from leader to human rights violator."

Amnesty International's analysis reveals that the United States is believed to have transferred, "rendered" or disappeared over a hundred detainees in the 'war on terror' to countries that the report cites for torture or ill-treatment of detainees. Some detainees are believed to be held in a labyrinth of secret prisons around the globe run by the United States government in consent with regimes that have questionable human rights records.

For example, the State Department report states that "There were numerous, credible reports that security forces tortured and mistreated prisoners and detainees" in Egypt. Amnesty International has reported that Mamdouh Habib, an Australian national, was rendered by the US government to Egypt for six months and then transferred to the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay before being released and returned to Australia in February 2005. Mr. Habib reported that during his detention in Egypt, he was subjected to severe torture, including beatings, threats against his family and being put in a room filled with water, requiring him to stand on his toes to keep from drowning.

Jordan is another nation to which some detainees have been rendered before being sent to Guantanamo Bay or 'disappeared' into U.S. 'black sites.' The report states that "The most frequently reported methods of torture included beating, sleep deprivation, extended solitary confinement, and physical suspension. Defendants charged with security-related offenses before the State Security Court claimed they were tortured to obtain confessions and claimed to have been subjected to physical and psychological abuse while in detention."

"Many of the countries highlighted in this report have absolutely abysmal records of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees," Schulz said. "The United States government must do all it can to end the global culture of torture. But real change can only occur if the Bush Administration not only admits that its own policies perpetuate torture and ill treatment, but also cleans house and stops warehousing detainees in countries with shameful human rights records."

Amnesty International continues to urge Congress to establish an independent commission to fully investigate the U.S. government's use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the 'war on terror.'

Contact: Sharon Singh, 202.544.0200 x289

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