Us Torture Techniques Violating The Law

Human rights are the fundamental characteristic of human beings, which gives them a unique status, despite any legal jurisdiction or other restrictive factors, such as ethnical identification or nationality. These basic human rights principles are based on natural human distinction, which preserves their universal and absolute nature. Human rights are legally defined in international law and municipal law.

Human rights legislation includes several different categories, which are binding for almost all countries of the world. The two most important types are the security rights and due process rights. "Security rights protect people against crimes such as murder, massacre, torture and rape" and maintain the peaceful order in a given country. "Due process rights" preserve the persons' rights of fair trial and protect the individuals from certain legal systems' abuses.

International human rights instruments are implemented in order to monitor the states' behavior concerning human rights, as well as to apply specific sanctions and regulations to the states violating the basic human rights. These instruments are organized into declarations and conventions. The Universal Declaration of human rights (1948) is the most significant document of the International preservation of human rights. Its main goal is to protect the people, by the rule of law, from discrimination, torture and all other kinds of human rights abuse. Moreover, the Declaration states that all people are equal and must be treated the same way before the law. The individual rights must be guarded in order to preserve the peace and welfare of the nations.

As entering the era of world terrorism, human rights abuses are a common practice used in the suspects' interrogations. "Extra-ordinary rendition" program is used as one way of retrieving information, even though it is considered as an extra-judicial procedure. According to Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". This legal source of the International law is clearly defining the "torture" as an illegal instrument that violates the basic human rights. The use of torturing techniques extremely contradicts with the principles of humanitarian law and human rights preservation. Using people's pain and suffering for obtaining information is absolutely illegitimate and should be prevented in order to comply with the democratic principles and regulations. Moreover, Article 2 (1) of the "United Nations Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" (UNCAT) states that "Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction". Even though many countries have ratified the Convention, and officially banned torture, it is still doubtful whether "de facto" the counties are following the legal frames of the Convention.

An interesting example is the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp of the USA, where prisoners are treated with severe coercive practices. This brutal behavior has been recognized as "torture" by many international organizations, such as "The United Nations Commission of Human Rights", "Amnesty International", "Human Rights Watch", and the "International Committee of the Red Cross". However, the use of torture is condemned also as its illegal status, and the unreliability of the information derived through the use of painful and live-threatening techniques.

Obviously, it is absolutely right that torture is immoral and illegal in its essence, and must not been used in the modern time of civilized societies. Even though, many countries are still practicing it by covering this dehumanizing practice with secret names and special places, which are not familiar to the public.

"Rendition" is the CIA's accepted term for the transferring of arrested terrorist suspects to other counties for questioning. CIA is sending alleged people to Jordan, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries, because they will be tortured there and pressured to give specific information, which could not be provided in any legal way of questioning. Of course, the Bush administration is completely denying that they are using torture in its interrogations of suspected terrorist group members. The Bush administration also declares that the USA's treaty commitments to cease from brutal, ruthless, and humiliating behavior do not apply to the manner of nonmilitary U.S. persons interrogating non U.S. citizens outside the USA. Even though there were intentions by the Congress to fortify the legal prohibition of torture, the Bush administration managed somehow to oppose these practices. The US is a typical persistent objector in the case of acceptance of such laws, which will make the exercising of torture absolutely illegal and forbidden.

United States have ratified the Convention against torture (1987), which means that it is becoming a binding law for the US actions as well as in the territory of the USA and everywhere in the world; adding together the Constitution of the USA, that is stating that the treaties are "the law of the land". These two facts indicate that the US government is not complying with its legally binding documents and its Constitution, which is a very serious legal and ethical allegation. The Constitution of the US is primed in order to establish justice, apply properly the domestic laws and create binding rights and obligations for all citizens, as well as secure the consent of liberty to the citizens.

Even though Mr. Bush had repeatedly stated that "...this country does not torture, we are not going to torture", there are still significant suspected ways in which the US government is undertaking illegal and immoral actions in the terrorists' interrogations. The reality of secret prisons, which are usually outside of the US territory and its legal jurisdiction, is taking increasing part in the news spotlight. The US is going beyond its legal rights and authority in their desire to maintain a high level of national security. In this way they are ignoring the essential US values of justice and freedom, as long as preventing the Congress and the Courts from their vital right to carry out required oversight. The government is escalating its abusive authority, as well as at a regional and international level, which is covered under the confidentiality of its actions, in order to escape from responsibility to the law. Though, the abuse of human rights is also legally contradicting with the "erga omnes" concept, which is defining universal obligations or rights