UN report criticizes treatment of inmates at Guantanamo Bay as cruel and inhuman

Fionnuala Ni Aolain:

I encourage people to read my report, because, actually, what this report does is, it provides a clear road map for the U.S. government to actually fully provide for the rights of victims of terrorism, including a comprehensive audit for the 9/11 families of all their psychological and medical support.

It's deeply concerning to me that many of those families don't have the security of long-term psychological treatment. But I also say clearly in this report that the single largest barrier to the rights of victims of terrorism, which I absolutely defend, to have accountability for acts of terrorism, was torture.

Those who tortured betrayed the rights of victims, because what they ensured is that you couldn't have fair trial. What they ensured was that the trial process would be so hampered, as we have seen for the last decade, that it would be impossible for the victims of terrorism to redeem their rights.

So, in fact, victims of terrorism are due an apology for torture, because it was the very torture that was done, sometimes in their name, that has prevented them from actually ensuring the fulfillment of their rights.

I would say, as to the men, let me be clear. Torture is the most egregious and heinous of crimes. Even in situations of war, we don't accept that people can torture. We say this to Russia. We say it to China. We say it to many, many countries across the globe. Whether you're a P5 member or just a small state, you are not allowed to torture.

And when you do torture, you bear the responsibility of that, which includes apology to the people that you have tortured.

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