Shut down Guantanamo prison: UN to U.S.

The United States should stop using a prison at Guantanamo Bay and either release all the prisoners there or put them on trial, said a UN torture report issued on Friday.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture also called on Washington to disclose the existence of any secret prisons and stop using them.

The panel's 11-page report details recommendations from 10 independent experts, who examined the U.S. record at home and abroad.

Those recommendations include:

• StopsendinganyonetoGuantanamo Bay and close thefacility.
• Ensure that no one is detained in any secret detention facility under the U.S. government's"de facto effective control."
• Investigate and disclose "the existence of any such facilities and the authority under which they have been established and the manner in which detainees are treated."
• Take immediate measures "to eradicate all forms of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by its military or civilian personnel, in any territory under its jurisdiction."

The panel also said the United States should either put all the prisoners now in Guantanamo Bay on trial or release them, making sure none are turned over to countries where they might be tortured.

Earlier this month, the United States appeared before the committee for first time in six years and answered questions about its interpretation of the ban on torture and the treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

Hundreds of prisoners are being held as terrorism suspects by the United States.

Interrogation techniques that have been used on those people include sexual humiliation, mock drownings and the use of dogs to induce fear.