For Immediate Release: June 2, 2011
Contact: Samantha Friedman, (202) 215-9260 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Under the authoritarian military dictatorship that ruled Argentina in the 1970s, Argentinean citizen Juan Méndez was locked away in a detention center outside Buenos Aires. From 1975-77, his government held him captive in Unit 9 as a political detainee, subjecting him to torture through the electric prod.

But more than 30 years later, Méndez today serves the United Nations as its Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In that role and guided by the principles of the UN Convention Against Torture, he investigates charges of torture by governmental entities worldwide. Based in Washington, D.C., he is also a Visiting Professor of Law at The American University’s Washington College of Law.

Wednesday, Méndez participated in a panel organized by 13 organizations, including the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT).

“To make sure that U.S.-sponsored torture never happens again, the U.S. government needs to investigate fully its torture practices of U.S.-held detainees since 9/11,” said NRCAT Executive Director Rev. Richard Killmer. A Commission of Inquiry should be appointed by the government to do a thorough investigation and to recommend safeguards that assure that U.S.-sponsored torture is ended forever.”

Méndez explained that the UN Convention Against Torture absolutely prohibits any form of torture at the hand of state agents, compels states not to send people to any jurisdiction where they are likely to be tortured, and requires them to offer reparations and rehabilitation to torture victims. “Torture is the only violation of human rights in international law that triggers an affirmative obligation on the part of the state to investigate, prosecute and punish every single act of torture,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be part of a pattern or widespread.”

Though his mandate does not permit him to provide details or findings of issues as yet unresolved, he did indicate that currently, he is looking into 1) whether Army Private Bradley Manning, charged with leaking restricted material to WikiLeaks, was subjected to solitary confinement, “a red flag” indicating the possibility of physical and/or psychological torture; 2) visiting the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay to interview inmates about their treatment at the prison; 3) intelligence in the WikiLeaks documents asserting that American forces in the past transferred detainees to Iraqi authorities knowing they’d be subject to torture; and 4) the nature of prolonged solitary confinement in prisons and how it can inflict long-term pain and suffering.

Méndez concluded his remarks by asking for help from the supporters of the various organizations present. “Not only in the United States, but everywhere where the Special Rapporteur works, it is very important for us to work hand in hand with organizations of civil society. Even in the most compliant governments, the struggle to make torture a thing of the past, like the slave trade was made a thing of the past after centuries of campaigning, cannot be done by the UN alone and much less by the Special Rapporteur alone.”

The panel, conducted at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill, also included Amrit Singh, Senior Legal Officer for National Security and Counterterrorism at the Open Society Justice Initiative, and Katherine Gallagher, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Singh’s remarks focused on the legal community’s as yet unsuccessful cases against the U.S. government’s use of extraordinary rendition to kidnap terrorism suspects, transport them to secret government prisons around the world, and use torture tactics in interrogations.

She echoed Méndez’s call for support. “The answer is there has to be a global effort joining constituents against torture in Poland, Lithuania, the United States, and all the countries that were implicit in torture because this is no longer just about the U.S.; it’s a global problem. The U.S. was traditionally looked at as a leader in the field of human rights, but has now co-opted other countries into cooperating in systemic torture.”

Gallagher discussed how the Center for Constitutional Rights is attempting to bring to justice government officials responsible for torture at Guantanamo Bay by invoking universal jurisdiction, a concept under international law that there are some rights so universal that any country anywhere can investigate crimes against them.

“For many torture victims,” she said, “they’re awaiting their day in court, and they’re awaiting some kind of accountability.”

Panel moderator Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, Director of Public Witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA), closed by encouraging each attendee, “Celebrate this month by deciding what you are going to do to make a difference.”

PANEL CO-SPONSORS:

Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma, Alliance for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights First, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Pax Christi USA, Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, Physicians for Human Rights, War Criminals Watch and Witness Against Torture

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a growing membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, more than 300 religious organizations have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations.

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