[JURIST] Human rights groups Friday dismissed a new US report to the Geneva-based UN Committee Against Torture that claimed the United States was appropriately prosecuting US personnel accused of mistreating prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo and denied that the abuse was systemic or sanctioned by high-ranking US officials. Spokesman for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch separately labelled the 95-page State Department document "exculpatory" and a whitewash of US actions, suggesting that it showed light punishment for offenders and completely overlooked abuses committed against CIA "ghost" detainees and individuals subjected to "rendition" to torture abroad. Read the full report [State Department text]. Reuters has more.