From May 4-8,
2006, the United Nation's Committee Against Torture (CAT) will review
the United States' compliance with the Convention Against Torture,
commonly known as the Torture Convention. The review is a regular,
periodic examination of countries that have ratified the treaty.
This is the US's second review; the first took place in 2000.

This year's hearing is expected to be
contentious and intensely scrutinized because of the much publicized
and criticized US actions of the last six years, including the
revelations of torture at Abu Ghraib, the allegations of human rights
violations at Guantanamo Bay, the leaked information about secret
prisons throughout Europe, the use of rendition and torture for
suspected Al Qaeda operatives and the Bush administration's changing
interpretations of what constitutes "torture." Lethal injection as a
form of capital punishment, an issue before the US Supreme Court, will
also be examined.

According to Mercedes Morales, a UN
human rights officer who serves as secretary to the UN Committee
Against Torture, the list of issues the Committee expects the US to
address "is the longest list of issues I have ever seen." (From
interview with Reuters in April 2006.)

At the end of the hearings, the UN
will release public comments about its findings and make
recommendations to the United States on policy changes.  Many of these
issues are expected to be raised again at the July 2006 review of the
United States' human rights violations by the UN Human Rights Committee.

Convention Against Torture
This treaty was signed by the United States in 1988 and ratified in 1994, making it legally binding.

US Reservations, Understandings, and Declarations upon Ratification
Upon
adopting the Convention Against  Torture, the Senate added this
document to limit and clarify its understanding of the treaty.

The Procedure
The United States submitted its report to the Committee in 2005. This was one year later than it was required to submit the report.

In response, the United Nations
asked US non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to submit shadow reports
(see below), reports that dispute the US official report or provide
information on unreported violations. In addition, the NGOs will submit
oral testimony in early May.

After reviewing the US official report and the shadow reports, the CAT issued a list of issues
that it expects the US delegation to address this May at the hearing.
According to a recent Reuters article, as many as 30 members of the
State Department, Defense Department, Department of Justice and other
government agencies are expected to attend.

In late May, the CAT is expected to release its comments and recommendations to the US.

The Shadow Reports
As
part of the process, the UN allows NGOs to submit "shadow reports" to
the committee, to challenge the US official report. In September 2005,
the US coalition of NGOs submitted a joint list of issues
for the CAT to consider. Since then, several organizations have
submitted their own full reports, each addressing issues specific to
their work:

American Civil Liberties Union
Amnesty International
Center for Constitutional Rights
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
International Gender Organization
International Women's Human Rights Clinic
Mind Freedom International
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Penal Reform International
Police Brutality
Police Brutality Signatories
Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition International

Official US and UN Documents Regarding the Hearing
The United States of America Report to the Committee Against Torture (2005)
Update to Annex 1 to the US Report (concerning extraterritorial issues)
The CAT List of Issues to be considered during the May hearings

US Written Response to CAT List of Issues
US Oral Response to List of Issues May 5, 2006
US Oral Response to CAT Questions May 8, 2006
CAT Summary of US Review May 5, 2006
CAT Summary of US Response May 8, 2006

Previous Hearings

In 2000, the Committee Against Torture
reviewed the United States for the first time. At the time, pre-9/11,
the hearing was mostly focused on domestic issues. The following are
the documents related to that hearing:

» Initial US Report to the Committee Against Torture (2000)
» Concluding Observations of the Committee Against Torture on the First US Report to the Committee (2000)

For the Press
If
you are a member of the press, please contact Beth George at Fenton
Communications for more information: 212-584-5000 (office),
646-483-3312 (cell), bgeorge@fenton.com

Links
Committee Against Torture Website