Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

To the Editor:

Re: “U.S. Action Bars Rights of Some Captured in Iraq” (front page, Oct. 26), the practice of holding “ghost detainees” from Iraq in third nations where they are likely to suffer mistreatment and torture raises further questions about the Administration’s undertaking to observe its obligations under the Geneva Conventions, the Convention Against Torture, and U.S. statutes to implement these fundamental commitments.

No less alarming is the equivocal stance taken by Administration officials regarding the prohibition against forcible transfers of the local population as well as deportations, and regarding other bedrock rules set forth in the Geneva Conventions.

Given the handling of “ghost detainees” as well as the gravity of recent press reports regarding the torture and abuse of detainees in U.S.-run facilities, it is imperative that the Administration disclose the key documents that state its policy on the transfer of detainees in the global war on terror, particularly those detainees taken in Iraq.

Very truly yours,

Bettina B. Plevan
President, The Association of the Bar
of the City of New York