U.N. Group Calls for Guantanamo Closure

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights Thursday called on the U.S. government to close immediately the detention center in Guantanamo Bay.

The call came in a report released by five investigators following a six-month study into the conditions under which the terror suspects are being held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba.

Attempts by the United States administration to redefine ‘torture’ in the framework of the struggle against terrorism in order to allow certain interrogation techniques that would not be permitted under the internationally accepted definition of torture are of utmost concern, a U.N. release said.

The investigators called for the United States to either bring all detainees before an independent and competent tribunal or release them.

The investigators also requested full and unrestricted access to the Guantanamo Bay facilities, including private interviews with detainees.

Months ago, the Bush administration offered the investigators the same tour of the prison journalists can take, but denied private interviews with detainees. That led the panel to refuse the invitation.