From: "Gary Britt" 

The statements by Gonzales and Rice do not conflict.

Gary

"Adam"  wrote in message
news:43982a38{at}w3.nls.net...
> Methinks Condi has been reminded by many on this side of the pond wrt
> the CAT......
>
> http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10372233/
>
> "Bush administration officials, including Alberto Gonzales,
> attorney-general, had argued that important sections of the United
> Nations international convention against torture (CAT) did not apply
> outside US territory. But Scott McClellan, White House spokesman,
> insisted that Ms Rice's comments were a restatement of existing policy.
>
> "As a matter of US policy, the US obligations under the CAT, which
> prohibits cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment – those obligations
> extend to US personnel wherever they are," Ms Rice said in Ukraine.
>
> Her comments appeared to contradict the views of Mr Gonzales, who
> earlier this year wrote in responses to questions from Dianne Feinstein,
> a Democrat senator, that "the department of justice has concluded that
> ...there is no legal prohibition under the CAT on cruel, inhuman, or
> degrading treatment with respect to aliens overseas". The tabular
> content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in
> advance for the inconvenience caused."
>
>
> Not Just US obligations but obligations on all signatories.....i.e. were
> a MI or CIA bod be id'ed by one of the people who've had such treatment
> then......bang em up when ever they step outside the S & into a CAT
> signatory country.....
>
> "Carl Levin, the top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee,
> said Ms Rice's remarks were "almost a total reversal" on the
> administration's previous detention and interrogation policies."
>
> "One congressional aide said the policy change followed a series of
> discussions between Mr McCain and Stephen Hadley, national security
> adviser. The shift also represents a significant defeat for Mr Cheney,
> who has spearheaded efforts within the administration to block the
> McCain measure.
>
> "What Rice has effectively done is to accept the McCain
amendment," said
> Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "It
> appears to be a significant shift and a welcome one. I hope somebody
> remembers to tell [CIA director] Porter Goss to throw away his water
board."
>
> Marking Human Rights Day at the United Nations, Louise Arbour, the high
> commissioner for human rights, said the US was losing its "moral
> leadership" because of a perception that its commitment to civil
> liberties was slipping. A former war crimes prosecutor, Ms Arbour said
> secret prisons amounted to "disappearances" and was a form
of torture. "
>
> & then the walrus...:
>
> "John Bolton, US ambassador to the UN, rejected her comments as
> "inappropriate and illegitimate" based on second-guessing US behaviour
> through reading newspapers.s Rice's visit to Europe this week has been
> dogged by questions over alleged abuses of detainees in secret CIA
> facilities in Europe. It had been aimed at building on recent progress
> in repairing transatlantic relations, particularly with Germany.
>
> The "secret prisons" issue was a central topic at a joint EU-Nato
> ministers' dinner last night, with Ms Rice coming under considerable
> pressure – particularly from Nordic states, Luxembourg and France – to
> explain Washington's position "
>
> So go on then Bolton relieve us of the tension & tell us all about the
> secret prisons.....ooops couldn't do that w/o the CAT being invoked
> against US personel.
>
>
> article 2 of the cat:
>
> 2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a
> threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public
> emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.
>
> 3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be
> invoked as a justification of torture.
>
> Article 11
> Each State Party shall keep under systematic review interrogation rules,
> instructions, methods and practices as well as arrangements for the
> custody and treatment of persons subjected to any form of arrest,
> detention or imprisonment in any territory under its jurisdiction, with
> a view to preventing any cases of torture.
>
> &
>
>
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aTrdY33cWeNc&refer=us
>
>
> Adam

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