"While the US obligations under the covenant do not apply outside of US territory, it is important to recall that there is a body of both domestic and international law that protects individuals outside US territory," said Matthew Waxman of the US State Department, who is heading the delegation of about 25 people, said in his opening remarks.
The committee hearing has attracted great interest from human rights organizations, about 40 of which sent representatives to meet separately with the committee and monitor proceedings. Amnesty International said it had raised a number of issues, including the death penalty, supermaximum security prisons and life sentences for those who committed crimes as juveniles.
Other questions from the panel concerned racial discrimination, the rights of native Americans and the treatment of African-Americans in the Gulf Coast area before and after Hurricane Katrina.
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