UN Expert: US Continues to Torture Detainee at Gitmo

 

by Jason Ditz

UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer has issued a new statement on Wednesday claiming information that Gitmo detainee Ammar al-Baluchi continues to be subjected to torture by US forces, including treatments banned under international law.

Baluchi is being accused of having “facilitated” 9/11, and worked as a courier for Osama bin Laden. During his detention at a CIA black site, he was repeatedly beaten by interrogators and subjected to multiple “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
Though the US nominally banned torture 10 years ago, Melzer indicated that the information he has is that Baluchi continues to be subjected to sleep deprivation and other mistreatment, and not given access to proper medical care for the torture he suffered in the past.
The Pentagon denied that this was the case, saying they see “no credible evidence” any torture took place. That they’re presenting this with the same language as the reports of civilian deaths in US airstrikes is bizarre, because while the US doesn’t have access to victims of their strikes on the ground, they certainly know about the treatment of detainees within their own facilities. Yet instead of categorically denying that torture is taking place, they simply deny that the evidence exists.