U.N. says U.S. broke torture rule in denying access to Manning

Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story

On the same day that a major human rights organization issued a scathing report on Bush-era prisoner abuses, the United Nations alleged that the United States had violated a “long-standing” rule meant to prevent the torture of prisoners, by denying an official access to Pvt. Bradley Manning, the lone soldier accused of turning over secret documents to WikiLeaks.

Juan Mendez, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on torture, criticized the U.S. government for preventing a meeting with Manning, meant to ascertain whether the conditions of the soldier’s confinement constituted torture. He insisted that an unmonitored meeting is standard practice around the world.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, that’s something even Bush officials permitted (PDF) for their alleged high value al Qaeda detainees, but Manning seems to be a special case for the Obama administration.

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