US puts more than 100 on trial for prisoner abuse

GENEVA - The United States has put on trial more than 100 armed forces' staff accused of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq, twice the number asserted by rights groups.

Defending US policy before the United Nations' Committee against Torture, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Charles Stimson said all allegations of mistreatment of detainees were investigated.

Figures provided to the committee by US-based group Human Rights Watch that there had been only 54 courts-martial for prisoner abuse, with 40 armed forces' personnel jailed, "are simply wrong," Stimson said.

There had so far been 103 such military trials, with 89 officials convicted, 19 of whom received jail sentences of one year or more, he said.

"Accountability is ongoing," the official told the committee, which is examining Washington's compliance with the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.

Human Rights Watch advocacy director Jennifer Daskal said release of the figures was a "welcome act of transparency." But the numbers of trials and convictions were still low given the extent of known abuse, she added.

The treatment of hundreds of terrorism suspects being held by the United States in prisons in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has figured prominently in two days of questioning by the 10-member panel of human rights' experts.

US officials acknowledged the damage done to Washington's reputation by cases such as that of Abu Ghraib outside Baghdad where it is known that some Iraqi detainees were beaten, sexually humiliated and threatened with snarling dogs.

But Washington had drawn lessons from the incidents and its record had improved, they said.

"We now have more rigorous laws, more rigorous procedures, more rigorous training and more rigorous monitoring mechanisms," said delegation chief John Bellinger, the US State Department's top legal adviser.

Human rights groups last week accused the United States of continuing to mistreat prisoners through cruel interrogation methods including "water boarding," a form of mock drowning.

But Stimson said it was not amongst techniques authorised by the US Defence Department and would be specifically barred under a new armed forces' manual to be issued shortly.

The UN committee has questioned whether Washington condemned torture in all cases.

"US officials from all government agencies are prohibited from engaging in torture, at all times and in all places," Bellinger said in reply.

He defended sending detainees to third countries for imprisonment or questioning, something which activists say exposes them to mistreatment, saying that this was not done when they were "more likely than not" to be tortured.

The committee, which is also scrutinising the records of a number of other countries, including Guatemala and South Korea, will present its conclusions on May 19.

- REUTERS