UN torture committee questions US practices at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib News
UN torture committee questions US practices at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib

[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.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.