Geneva, (Switzerland): The UN has grilled the US on its compliance with the global ban on torture for the first time since Washington declared war on terrorists, rejecting US refusals to discuss intelligence matters like alleged secret CIA prisons and flights transferring suspects for possible torture in other countries.
The UN Committee Against Torture, the global body's watchdog for a 22-year-old treaty forbidding prisoner abuse, asked US officials about a series of issues ranging from Washington's interpretation of the absolute ban on torture to its interrogation methods in prisons such as Abu Ghraib, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
US officials acknowledge mistakes had been made and that 29 detainees in American facilities in Iaq and Afghanistan had died of what appeared to be suspected abuse or other violations of US law.
US State Department lawyer John B Bellinger III, who led the US delegation at Friday's hearing, defended Washington's commitment to its international obligations and read prepared answers to written questions submitted in advance from the committee in writing.
He said the delegation was unable to answer all questions because much of the information relates to intelligence activities.
But Andreas Mavrommatis, chairman of the committee, said he could understand that intelligence matters needed careful treatment, "but they are not excluded" from scrutiny.
"If during intelligence activities there is a violation of the convention, it's our duty to investigate them and your duty to answer," Mavrommatis said.
Bellinger's 25-member team for the hearings includes officials from the defense, justice and homeland security departments. A second session is planned for Monday, when US officials will respond to the committee members' oral questions.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Charles Stimson said a total of 120 detainees have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. No detainees died at Guantanamo Bay, he said.
Most of the deaths resulted from natural causes, battlefield injuries or attacks by other detainees, he said.
In the cases of the 29 deaths from suspected abuse, Stimson said, "these alleged violations were properly investigated and appropriate action taken," he said.
The US, like the 140 other nations that have signed the Convention Against Torture, must submit reports to the committee to show it is applying the rules.
The Geneva-based committee, a panel of 10 independent experts who meet twice a year, said the legal interpretation of torture in US Department of Justice memorandums in 2002 and 2004 "seems to be much more restrictive than previous UN standards."
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