The U.S.’s actions do not create trust

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The U.S.’s actions do not create trust

Aljazeera.com
12/17/2005 8:30:00 PM GMT


There might be a good reason to believe the words of a senior member of the U.S. government. Earlier this week, Condoleezza Rice said in Kiev that Washington is obligated to the UN’s charter against torture. She insisted that the U.S. doesn’t permit cruel, inhumane and humiliating treatment of detainees, and that “American personnel, wherever they are, inside or outside the U.S., are bound by these obligations”. Rice’s comments came amid a European uproar over reports of secret CIA flights and covert prisons on European soil.

But there is also a good reason to take Rice’s comments cautiously. After all, she did not deny that foreign suspects were transported or held in Europe. However, this wasn’t the case with European leaders. It is interesting how quickly criticism can turn into acceptance and obedience. EU foreign ministers, who described the U.S.’s earlier statements on the existence of covert CIA prisons in Europe as “unsatisfactory”, said they were satisfied Rice's remarks, even though human rights groups say secret detention often leads to torture. The clear message is: we have to trust the word of American officials.

"Rice and her counterparts were successful at creating the image of a unified front," Charles Kupchan of the Washington-based thinktank, the Council on Foreign Relations, told Reuters. "But I doubt this issue is going to be defused by the atmospherics in the realm of high politics.... European governments are exposing themselves to further public pressure," he said.

Continuous reports of prisoner abuses at the hands of U.S. forces don’t justify trust. Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghriab are clear examples that nobody dare ignore. There can only be a reason for satisfaction when the U.S. provides a real evidence that prisoner abuses at its detention facilities have stopped. However, this isn’t what’s happening today; and there are so many questions about covert CIA prisons and secret flights. Not only does the U.S. have to provide explanations, but so does European leaders, who must address the situation in a much more detailed and precise manner than that used by Rice.

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