Activists say California judge approved torture and mistreatment of terror suspects

Today marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, used the occasion to call on nations around the world to ratify and apply the UN convention against torture.

Pillay criticized US interrogation techniques and detention centers, calling the policies of former President George Bush a “grotesque practice.” The commissioner also warned against the Obama Administration´s plans to approve legislation that would allow for  the so-called “preventive detention” of terrorist suspects, saying that “there should be no half-measures, or new ways to treat people as criminals” when they have not been found guilty of any crime.

Meanwhile on the West Coast, several groups are trying to bring to justice those they say are behind US torture policies. FSRN reporter Africa Jones has more.