U.S. Department of State
Initial Report of the United States of America to the UN Committee Against Torture
Submitted by the United States of America to the Committee Against Torture, October 15, 1999
INTRODUCTION
The Government of the United States of America welcomes the opportunity to report to the Committee Against Torture on measures giving effect to its undertakings under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment…This Report has been prepared by the U.S. Department of State with extensive assistance from the Department of Justice and other relevant departments and agencies of the federal government. Substantial contributions were also solicited and received from interested non-governmental organizations, academics and private citizens. The Report covers the situation in the United States and the measures taken to give effect to the Convention through September 1999.
The United States ratified the Convention Against Torture in October 1994, and the Convention entered into force for the United States on November 20, 1994. In its instrument of ratification (deposited with the Secretary General of the United Nations on October 21, 1994), the United States made a declaration pursuant to Article 21, paragraph 1, recognizing the competence of the Committee Against Torture, on a reciprocal basis, to receive and consider a State Party's claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under the Convention. The United States also conditioned its ratification on two reservations and a number of interpretive understandings; these are included at Annex I and discussed at the relevant portions of this Report.
In 1992, the United States became a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, some provisions of which may be considered to have wider application than those of the Convention Against Torture. The initial U.S. Report under the Covenant, which provides general information related to U.S. compliance with and implementation of obligations under the Covenant, was submitted to the Human Rights Committee in July 1994 …The United States also ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination at the same time as it ratified the Torture Convention. In February 1995, the United States signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The United States has long been a vigorous supporter of the international fight against torture. U.S. representatives participated actively in the formulation of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in 1975, and in the negotiation of the Convention Against Torture. The United States continues to be the largest donor to the U.N. Voluntary Fund For Victims of Torture, having contributed over $12.6 million as of August 1999. The U.S. Government pursues allegations of torture by other governments as an integral part of its overall human rights policy, highlighting such issues in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Conditions.
Torture is prohibited by law throughout the United States. It is categorically denounced as a matter of policy and as a tool of state authority. Every act constituting torture under the Convention constitutes a criminal offense under the law of the United States. No official of the government, federal, state or local, civilian or military, is authorized to commit or to instruct anyone else to commit torture. Nor may any official condone or tolerate torture in any form. No exceptional circumstances may be invoked as a justification of torture. U.S. law contains no provision permitting otherwise prohibited acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to be employed on grounds of exigent circumstances (for example, during a "state of public emergency") or on orders from a superior officer or public authority, and the protective mechanisms of an independent judiciary are not subject to suspension. The United States is committed to the full and effective implementation of its obligations under the Convention throughout its territory.
No government, however, can claim a perfect record in each of the areas and obligations covered by the Convention. Abuses occur despite the best precautions and the strictest prohibitions. Within the United States, as indicated in this Report, there continue to be areas of concern, contention and criticism. These include instances of police abuse, excessive use of force and even brutality, and death of prisoners in custody. Overcrowding in the prison system, physical and sexual abuse of inmates, and lack of adequate training and oversight for police and prison guards are also cause for concern. The national conscience was sharply challenged in 1991 by the widely publicized beating of Rodney King by four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department and by their subsequent prosecution by state and federal authorities. More recently, a Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima, was brutalized by New York City policemen after being taken into custody. Concerns about the excessive use of force by federal agents arose from widely publicized incidents in 1992 at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and in 1993 in Waco, Texas; similar charges were leveled against the Philadelphia Police Department in connection with the May 1985 bombing of the headquarters of the radical African-American organization MOVE.
As a result of these and other instances, American society has renewed its efforts to ensure that appropriate guidelines on the use of force are respected and that the prohibitions against torture and other forms of physical, mental and psychological abuse by law enforcement and correctional officials are observed in practice. Indeed, in 1994 the U.S. Congress enacted important legislation which authorizes the Attorney General to institute civil lawsuits to obtain remedies for patterns or practices of misconduct by law enforcement agencies and agencies responsible for the incarceration of juveniles. The Department of Justice is actively enforcing this statute, as well as older laws that permit criminal prosecution of law enforcement and correctional officers who willfully deprive individuals of their constitutional rights, and statutes that enable the Department of Justice to obtain civil relief for abusive conditions in state prisons and local jails.
In addition, in the United States, some have voiced concerns related to other areas covered by or related to the Convention, such as non-consensual scientific and medical experimentation, treatment of the mentally ill and illegal immigrants in custody, and imposition of capital punishment. These and other issues are discussed in connection with Article 16.
Every unit of government at every level within the United States is committed, by law as well as by policy, to the protection of the individual's life, liberty and physical integrity. Each must also ensure the prompt and thorough investigation of incidents when allegations of mistreatment and abuse are made, and the punishment of those who are found to have committed violations. Accomplishment of necessary reforms and improvements is a continued goal of government at all levels. The United States intends to use its commitments and obligations under the Convention to motivate and facilitate a continual review of the relevant policies, practices, and institutions in order to assure compliance with the treaty.
