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Report Submitted
to the United Nations Committee Against Torture
in Response to the May 6, 2005 Second Periodic Report
of the United States to the Committee Against Torture

After reviewing the May 6, 2005, Second Periodic Report of the United States of America to the Committee Against Torture, TASSC makes a number of observations. Specifically, the report fails in two respects.

♦   First, the definition of torture set forth in the Convention Against Torture (CAT), has been improperly altered by the current U.S. administration.

♦   Second, the U.S. report characterizes specific incidents of torture as the individual actions of a "few bad apples." as opposed to government policy. Again, TASSC challenges this assertion, and presents evidence that the United States has been involved in torture, either directly or by proxy, for decades.

In its report to the UN:

♦   TASSC sets forth a number of case histories of survivors of torture from Latin America and other regions. These personal accounts shed crucial light on the devastating physical and psychological effects of interrogation methods such as "water-boarding", dog attacks, short shackling, "stress and duress" positions, combined sensory assaults, and the "water pit." Such methods fall well within the CAT definition of torture.

♦   TASSC documents the U.S. practice, either directly or "by proxy," of identical torture techniques in other nations in the past. This strongly indicates long-term government policy and command responsibility for current CAT violations. TASSC's position is further corroborated by recently declassified U.S. documents.

♦   "Extraordinary renditions" by the United States are also discussed in light of this history. TASSC submits that torture is in fact the intended goal of such renditions, which constitute "torture by proxy."

♦   TASSC documents the U.S. practice of ghost prisoners in the current "war against terror", and traces U.S. involvement in the same actions throughout Latin America and Vietnam. This is a form of psychological torture for both the detainee and his or her family members.

♦   TASSC presents evidence that current U.S. torture practices were authorized at the highest levels, and sets forth declassified documents in support of this position.

IMPORTANT: