The UN was grilling the US on its compliance with the global ban on torture yesterday for the first time since Washington declared war on terrorists, focusing on allegations of secret CIA prisons and flights transferring suspects for possible torture in other countries.
The UN Committee Against Torture, the global body's watchdog for a 22-year-old treaty forbidding prisoner abuse, was asking US officials about a series of issues ranging from Washington's interpretation of the absolute ban on torture to its interrogation methods in prisons such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
US State Department lawyer John Bellinger III, who was leading the US delegation at the hearing, defended Washington's commitment to its international obligations and said it would try to answer the committee's questions.
However, he said the delegation may not be able to answer all questions because much of the information relates to intelligence activities.
"We welcome this dialogue and we're committed to answering your questions," Bellinger told the committee in his opening address.
Bellinger's 25-member team for the hearings includes officials from the defense, justice and homeland security departments.
"While I am acutely aware of the innumerable allegations ... about various US actions, I would ask you not to believe every allegation that you've heard. Allegations about US military or intelligence activities have become so hyperbolic as to be absurd," Bellinger said.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Charles Stimson said a total of 120 detainees had died in Iraq and Afghanistan. No detainees died at Guantanamo Bay, he said.
He said 29 of those deaths involved suspected abuse or other violations of law and policy.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS