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GENEVA, July 28 -- A United Nations rights panel Friday demanded the immediate closure of any secret U.S. detention facilities and said Washington should grant the international Red Cross access to captives.
The United States "should only detain persons in places in which they can enjoy the full protection of the law," said a 12-page report by the U.N. Human Rights Committee. "It should also grant prompt access by the International Committee of the Red Cross to any person detained in connection with an armed conflict."
Officials in Washington said the committee was out of bounds in examining U.S. practices outside the United States, but they said they would consider its recommendations.
The 18 independent experts on the committee, which examines on a rotating basis the record of all 156 signatories to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, said U.S. practices violate the rights of detainees and their families.
more (but not much)...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/28/AR2006072800512_pf.html