[JURIST] The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) [official website] said Tuesday that the panel has submitted a lengthy interrogatory to the US seeking information on the treatment of prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and in Afghanistan [JURIST news archives]. The CAT also demanded information about secret detention centers [JURIST news archive] allegedly operated by the US in Europe, and asked if the US will assume responsibility for any acts of torture committed there.

The US is expected to defend itself at the 36th session of the CAT, scheduled to begin May 1 in Geneva, at which the panel will discuss US rendition [JURIST news archive] and detention practices on May 5 and 8. The forum will focus on a report [text] that the US filed with the CAT [JURIST report] last year that stressed US compliance with the Convention against Torture [text]. The Convention strictly prohibits broadly defined acts of torture. Reuters has more.