Activist Slams US Human Rights Abuse

A Stop the War Coalition spokesman says the US and its allies are using the war on terror as a justification for their violation of human rights around the world.

Chris Nineham, one of the founder members of the campaign group, in an interview with IRNA News Agency said that the US and its allies have started a war, which has led to widespread violation of human rights.

Nineham went on to say that the United States' war on terror has systematically breached human rights within its borders and in other countries.

He added that Washington has infringed on the rights of its own citizens since 2001 under the pretext of providing the nation with their needed security.

He said evidence shows that the US National Security Agency has been tapping citizens' internet communications, emails and telephone conversations since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

The US spy agencies have also detained thousands of terror suspects from around the world and transferred them to secret detention centers in the country, Nineham added.

He also said the Stop the War Coalition wants immediate withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Nineham's remarks come as the UN Human Rights Council, which has started its ninth meeting in Geneva since Friday, called on the White House to investigate allegations of torture in US detention centers abroad.

Ambassadors of 47 UNHRC members also urged the quick closure of the US detention centers in Guantanamo, in Cuba and Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.

This is the first time the council investigates the human rights case of the US.