UN investigator fears abuse with new U.S. law

[tocqueville]

By Stephanie Nebehay
Fri Sep 29, 10:31 AM ET

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. torture investigator charged on Friday that a new U.S. law for tough interrogation of terrorism suspects would deprive people of the right to a fair trial before independent courts and could lead to mistreatment.

Manfred Nowak, United Nations special rapporteur on torture, regretted that the bill ignored U.N. rights bodies which have said U.S. interrogation methods and prolonged detentions violate international law.

The Senate gave final approval on Thursday to the bill, a day after its passage by the House of Representatives. President George W. Bush is expected to sign it into law very soon.

"I am afraid that with the new law, the interrogation methods will not really change. Bush has said that harsh interrogation methods will continue and that is my concern," the Austrian law professor told Reuters in a telephone interview.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060929/wl_nm/security_guantanamo_rights_dc;_ylt=AuxSebr_zr3ZvrAnDrdiYMdm.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--