© 2004 by Oxford University Press
Symposium on the Guantánamo Entanglement |
The Relevance of the Obligations Flowing from the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to US Courts Dealing with Guantánamo Detainees
1 University of Florence 2 Second University of Naples
The US authorities are internationally bound to grant to Guantánamo detainees all the rights provided for in the 1966 UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, for those detainees are under US jurisdiction, pursuant to Article 2(1) of the Covenant. The Covenant thus applies to them and US Courts must conform to its provisions. The detainees are, in particular, entitled to the judicial remedies envisaged in the Covenant and may not be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, which would be contrary to Article 7 of the Covenant. The declaration made by the US in 1992, when ratifying the Covenant, whereby Articles 1—27 of that treaty are not self-executing, has been interpreted by the US authorities to the effect that, since US domestic law made adequate provision for the requirements of the Covenant, there was no need to adopt special implementing legislation. It follows that US courts are bound to construe US legislation in light and on the basis of the Covenant and, hence, to grant all the rights provided for therein.