US embassy cable - 05GENEVA847

UNCLAS GENEVA 000847 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IO/SHA, DRL/MLA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, UNHRC-1, UNHRC, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: LETTER FROM INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON AFGHANISTAN 
REGARDING USG INTERPRETATION OF HIS MANDATE. 
 
1.  Mission received the following letter from the 
Independent Expert on Afghanistan, Cherif Bassiouni on March 
30, 2005.  The letter is addressed to Ambassador Moley and 
responds to a letter sent on March 18, 2005 in which 
Ambassador Moley offered Mr. Bassiouni a briefing on the 
conditions of DOD detention facilities in Afghanistan. 
 
2.  Begin text. 
 
23 March 2005 
 
Dear Ambassador Moley, 
 
This is to acknowledge your letter of March 18th, received by 
OHCHR March 21st and forwarded to me in Chicago.  As you 
correctly state, the mandate includes human rights violations 
in Afghanistan.  There are no exceptions.  Consequently, your 
statement that "the mandate covers Afghan prisons and their 
conditions, but not U.S. detention facilities" does not 
conform to the letter of the mandate.  There is therefore no 
valid legal basis for the United States refusal to open its 
detention facilities in that country to verification of 
compliance with human rights legal obligations. 
 
I agree with you that the mere denial of access is not to be 
considered as confirmation of allegations of human rights 
violations.  The sources of these allegations, however, 
include U.S. governmental reports, portions of yet 
unpublished reports made available to the U.S. press, 
published reports in the U.S. and international media, 
published reports by non-governmental organizations, and 
books.  They refer to arbitrary arrest and detention, 
forceful removal of persons from Afghanistan to areas outside 
the country, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or 
punishment, including torture.  These are sufficient to raise 
concern with any conscientious mandate holder to investigate. 
 Furthermore, as the government of the United States is well 
aware, there have been reports, both oral and in writing by 
the ICRC concerning treatment of detainees in violation of 
international humanitarian law, including violations of human 
rights law, which have not been published.  Moreover, this 
mandate holder has interviewed former detainees who claim 
that they were tortured by U.S. personnel in U.S. detention 
facilities in Afghanistan.  Consequently, all of this 
information cannot be ignored by the mandate holder. 
 
I am delighted to note in your letter that I am now being 
offered the opportunity of a briefing in Washington or 
Geneva, and I will gladly avail myself of the opportunity as 
soon as I hear more specifically from the person in charge. 
For the record, your letter of December 23rd had indicated 
that this was not being considered in my case, and I welcome 
the change.  However, such a briefing is not a substitute for 
my continued request to inspect the facilities at Bagram, 
Kandahar, and other facilities housing persons detained by 
the United States who were seized in Afghanistan. 
 
Lastly, I agree with you that the United States Armed Forces 
take seriously allegations of wrongful behavior, that it 
endeavors to investigate credible reports, and that it takes 
appropriate action against those who have engaged in wrongful 
conduct. Precisely because of that, I believe that it would 
prove easy to work with the appropriate military personnel, 
should they be directed to cooperate with this mandate holder. 
 
Sincerely yours, 
///////////////////////////// 
M. Cherif Bassiouni 
Independent Expert. 
 
End text. 
 
 
 
Moley