WTF: "Sen. Durbin Apologizes for Gitmo Remarks "

U.N. Officials Seek Guantanamo Bay Visit
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer
43 minutes ago

GENEVA - U.N. human rights investigators, citing "persistent and credible" reports of torture at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, urged the United States on Thursday to allow them to check conditions there.

The failure of the United States to respond to requests since early 2002 is leading the experts to conclude Washington has something to hide at the Cuban base, said Manfred Nowak, a specialist on torture and a professor of human rights law in Vienna, Austria.

"At a certain point, you have to take well-founded allegations as proven in the absence of a clear explanation by the government," Nowak said.

However, he added: "We are not making a judgment if torture or treatment under degrading conditions has taken place."

Washington's response is delayed because the U.S. review process is "thorough and independent" and involves the Bush administration, Congress and the judicial system, said Brooks Robinson, spokeswoman for the U.S. mission to U.N. offices in Geneva.

"The main point is that their request is being addressed and discussed and reviewed in the United States," Robinson told The Associated Press. "That process is underway."

But one investigator, Algerian magistrate Leila Zerrougui, said: "The time is up. We have to act now. If not, we won't have any credibility left...."