IACHR Hears Complaints Against US for Torture

by: davidswanson

Wed Mar 25, 2009 at 01:54

Leading human rights organizations in the United States on March 20th presented charges of human rights abuse and torture against the U.S. government to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which can recommend actions, including prosecutions, to the U.S. government, other nations' governments, or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The speakers presented evidence of torture and insisted on the need for prosecutions. A representative of the U.S. government defended torture, or rather the refusal to prosecute torture, or rather he avoided the topic while managing to speak at length.  The career diplomat taking the stage for this Colin Powell moment was Lewis Amselem, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the Organization of American States (OAS).

The full video of the hearing is available at http://www.cidh.oas.org and is well worth watching.  The written complaints filed with the IACHR will be posted at http://afterdowningstreet.org/iachr

Here is Colleen Costello's testimony (video):
http://afterdowningstreet.org/...

And Michael Ratner's (video):
http://afterdowningstreet.org/...