U.N. tells U.S. to close detention camps

US News
U.N. tells U.S. to close detention camps
By UPI
May 19, 2006, 19:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- The White House Friday responded to a U.N. call to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, saying interrogations conducted at the prison are within U.S. law.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture called for an end to \'secret\' detention facilities and urged \'immediate measures\' to stop all forms of torture and ill-treatment of detainees in an 11-page report issued in Geneva.

\'It is important to note that everything that is done in terms of questioning detainees is fully within the boundaries of American law,\' White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters. He also noted the committee declined to inspect the Guantanamo prison in person.

Hundreds of prisoners have been incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, as well as at facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The BBC said the U.N. report called for more information on secret facilities.

\'The state party should investigate and disclose the existence of any such facilities and the authority under which they have been established and the manner in which detainees are treated,\' the report said.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International