UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A critical report by individual U.N. human rights rapporteurs released Wednesday calling for the immediate closure of the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has been denounced by the United States as a discredit to the world organization.
But the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, pointed out it was not the disgraced U.N. Human Rights Commission that made the report; rather it came from independent "rapporteurs from the commission."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, however, agreed Guantanamo should be closed.
"The five experts gather their own information and also did their own analysis and came up with their own conclusions," Annan said. "There is a lot in the report and I cannot necessarily say I agree with everything in the report.
"But the basic point (is) that one cannot detain individuals in perpetuity and that charges have to be brought against them and given a chance to explain themselves and prosecuted, charged or released, which I think is common under any legal system," he continued. "Sooner or later there will be a need to close Guantanamo and I would think it would be up to the (U.S.) government to decide, hopefully, to do it as soon as possible."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan noted the rapporteurs did not visit the facility.
"They were offered the same kind of access that congressional leaders, who are responsible for oversight of these matters, have been provided," he said. "Yet they declined to go down there."
McClellan said the military treats detainees "humanely" and charged that it was "a discredit to the U.N. when a team like this goes about rushing to report something when they haven't even looked into the facts. All they have done is look at the allegations."
The 54-page report, including a two-page U.S. rebuttal, was submitted to the Geneva-based commission so disgraced it was expected to be abolished after next month's annual meeting and replaced by a more credible Human Rights Council.
Filing the report were Chairman Rapporteur Leila Zerrougui, and special rapporteurs Leandro Despouy, Manfred Nowak, Asma Jahangir and Paul Hunt.
The five sought admittance to the prison facility but the U.S. invited only three of them, and said they would not be allowed to interview individual detainees on grounds the International Committee for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had already done so.
The five-person group said they would not go since their usual terms of reference agreed to with all other countries include such interviews. They issued a statement with the report saying its findings were based on information from the U.S. government, interviews conducted with former Guantanamo Bay detainees currently residing or detained in Europe, and responses from lawyers acting on behalf of some current detainees.
It also relied on information available in the public domain, including reports prepared by non-governmental organizations, information contained in declassified official U.S. documents and media reports, they said.
"The experts expressed regret that the government did not allow them the opportunity to have free access to detainees in Guantanamo Bay and carry out private interviews, as provided by the terms of reference accepted by all countries they visit," said the rapporteurs.
"The U.S. government should close the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities without further delay," their report affirmed. "Until the closure, and possible transfer of detainees to pre-trial detention facilities on U.S. territory, the government should refrain from any practice amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, discrimination on the basis of religion, and violations of the rights to health and freedom of religion.
"In particular, all special interrogation techniques authorized by the Department of Defense should immediately be revoked," the report said in a series of recommendations. They included a call for detainees to be brought to trial expeditiously or released "without further delay," but suggested consideration should first be given to trying suspected terrorists "before a competent international tribunal."
The report follows an 18-month joint study by the experts into the situation of detainees at the U.S. Naval Base.
Following White House rejection of the report, Chief U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric underscored that it was produced by independent rapporteurs and was now scheduled to be discussed by the commission to determine any follow-up.
Dujarric said the secretary-general has stressed the need for an effective balance between the struggle against terrorism and the protection of civil liberties and human rights.
When asked why the report coincided with widespread demonstrations against cartoons in the Muslim world and more pictures of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, he said the secretary-general had no control over the drafting, issuance or timing of the report.
As for the credibility of the commission, the spokesman reiterated the secretary-general's call for a more effective and credible Human Rights Council which would meet throughout the year.
Discussions on that council were ongoing in the U.N. General Assembly, Dujarric said, and noted the key issue for the secretary-general was an examination of the human rights records of those who would sit on the new council.
At present the commission has some members with questionable human rights records. Proposed legislation being drafted for the new council calls for changing the selection process to avoid such a dilemma.
