HUMAN rIGHTS cOMMITTEE

consideration of reports submitted by states parties UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Addendum

Further information received from the United States of America on the implementation of the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee

[24 July 2009]

Your correspondence mentions requests to provide further information on paragraphs 12, 13, 14, 16 and 26 of the Committee’s concluding observations. As you may know, the United States has already begun work on drafting this report and will further consider the Committee’s concluding observations while preparing that report, including the paragraphs referenced in your letter. Further, the United States will take into account the Committee’s concluding observations in preparation for its Universal Periodic Review, which is scheduled to take place in December 2010.

Additionally, we would like to provide information on recent developments in the United States that bear on some of the above-referenced paragraphs of the concluding observations. Specifically, on January 22, 2009, President Obama signed three executive orders relating to U.S. detention and interrogation policies broadly and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility specifically. Section 4 of Executive Order 13491 (“Ensuring Lawful Interrogations”) instructs the CIA to close any detention facilities that it operates and forbids the CIA from operating any detentions facilities in the future. Moreover, this Executive Order requires that “all departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with notification of, and timely access to, any individual detained in any armed conflict in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the United States Government or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by a department or agency of the United States Government, consistent with Department of Defense regulations and policies.” The Order further states that no individuals held in any armed conflict in the custody of the United States shall be subject to any interrogation techniques other than those authorized in the Army Field Manual.

We also note that, as a result of Executive Order 13492 (addressing the closure of Guantanamo and the review and disposition of Guantanamo detentions), and Executive Order 13493 (addressing detention policy options), the United States isundertaking a thorough and broad review of our detention practices. The results of this process ultimately will inform future U.S. policy on the issues you are considering. However, this process is not yet complete.

The United States is committed to the promotion and the protection of human rights. We will work closely together with member States to advance human rights and to remain in an open dialogue with the special procedures mandate-holders.

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