Guantanamo Bay Prison Using Banned Torture Methods: UN

Guantanamo Bay detention camp is still torturing prisoners using techniques that have been outlawed since 2010, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer warns in a new report. 

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"His torture and ill-treatment are reported to continue," the U.N. Human Rights Office said in a statement, referring to Al-Baluchi, a Kuwaiti-born Pakistani citizen also known as Abdul Aziz Ali. He's the nephew and alleged co-conspirator of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the prime suspect behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the Twin Towers. 

The official statement by the independent UN investigator cited Al-Baluchi's case as indicative of the ongoing use of torture techniques that were banned by the Obama administration in 2009 on the U.S.-controlled Cuban territory. Al-Baluchi has been tortured for almost three-and-a-half years on the CIA's "Black Site." 

"In addition to the long-term effects of past torture, noise and vibrations are reportedly still being used against him, resulting in constant sleep deprivation and related physical and mental disorders, for which he allegedly does not receive adequate medical attention," the statement noted. 

Guantanamo Bay detention camp was reopened by then-U.S. President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the September 2001 attacks, and currently house just over 40 detainees, several of whom were arrested during Barack Obama's second term as U.S. president.  

The "enhanced interrogation techniques" include waterboarding, walling, sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation and cramped confinement.  

In January, Trump released a draft to lift the ban on CIA Black Sites. The three-page draft executive-order, entitled "Detention and Interrogation of Enemy Combatants," sought to undo some of Obama's policies on Guantanamo.  

Melzer says the use of such banned torture techniques is unjustifiable, and he is calling for all U.S. officials failing to comply with international law to be prosecuted. 

"By failing to prosecute the crime of torture in CIA custody, the United States is in clear violation of the Convention Against Torture, and is sending a dangerous message of complacency and impunity to officials in the United States and around the world," Melzer said. 

The Pentagon, meanwhile, is denying any wrongdoing. "These claims have been invstigated on multiple occasions in the past and no credible evidence has been found to substantiate his claims," said Pentagon spokesman Major Ben Sakrisson.