“The
United Nations special rapporteur on torture lambasted the United
States for continually obstructing his requests to visit prisons
where 80,000 people sit in solitary confinement and to freely speak
with inmates at Guantanamo Bay. Juan E. Méndez said Wednesday that
he has attempted for more than two years to visit and check
conditions at American prisons, including some of the nation’s most
notorious maximum security facilities. He added that UN human rights
officials have asked for access to Guantanamo prisoners since 2004.”
“About
80,000 people are held in solitary confinement in US prisons,
according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Méndez remarked on
the routine use of the tactic in the US court-prison system. [...] In
October, the United Nations Committee Against Torture chastised the
US for its excessive use of solitary confinement.”
“In
addition, US prisoners with documented mental health problems are
often put in solitary confinement for long periods of time, according
to the Treatment Advocacy Center and the National Sheriffs’
Association. One of the most notoriously-harsh prisons in the US, New
York City’s Rikers Island, recently banned solitary confinement for
all inmates under the age of 21.”
“According
to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, many of the
detainees at Guantanamo were reportedly handed over to US forces by
bounty hunters in Pakistan and Afghanistan, after the US distributed
flyers in these countries offering substantial monetary awards for
turning in 'suspicious' people. Others were linked to relatives or
acquaintances suspected of criminal activity, and were therefore
considered 'guilty' by association. The majority of detainees
remaining at Gitmo have been cleared for release, but remain there
due to political or diplomatic obstacles in repatriating them.
Another 30-some prisoners have been designated for continued
detention without trial. These are men considered by the US as too
dangerous to release, yet against whom the government lacks usable
evidence for a conviction.”
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