(2014-0642-F) United Nations Convention Against Torture

The materials in FOIA 2014-0642-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. This FOIA case contains records regarding the United Nations (UN) Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The UN General Assembly adopted this treaty on December 10, 1984, and it entered into force on June 26, 1987, after ratification by 20 nations. The Convention Against Torture created a definition of torture and was intended to hold international jurisdiction. Its entry into force led to the creation of the UN Committee Against Torture, which meets semiannually to review reports on individual state compliance with the Convention. It took nearly a decade for the United States to adopt the UN Convention Against Torture. The US signed it under President Reagan’s authority on April 18, 1988 and the Senate gave its advice and consent in October 1990. However, Congress did not pass the implementing legislation needed to officially ratify the treaty until the Clinton Administration. The United States officially adopted the Convention Against Torture on October 21, 1994. Many of the records responsive to this FOIA request are located in the staff and office files of the National Security Council (NSC). The files of Matthew Lorin and Robert Malley in the Democracy, Human Rights, and Multilateral Affairs directorate contain correspondence, reports, congressional records, memoranda and press material regarding the implementation of the Convention Against Torture. These records specifically address the Comprehensive Torture Victims Relief Act of 1995 and the United States’ obligations under Article 3 of the convention. The files of Steven Naplan and Eric Schwartz in the Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs directorate contain similar materials. The records specifically deal with aid to victims under the Convention Against Torture and the International Day in Support of Torture Victims/Survivors on June 26, 1998. Further textual materials on the ratification and implementation of the Convention are located in the NSC Records Management System numbered documents. Responsive electronic materials are located in the NSC Cable and Emails systems. The cables date from August 1993 through September 2000 and contain State Department communications on the implementation of the Convention Against Torture in United States foreign relations. The emails, dating from June 1993 through August 2000 contain draft memoranda recommending the ratification of several human rights treaties, NSC staff communications regarding an Amnesty International letter, and discussion of the potential deportation of suspected Khobar Towers terrorist Hani el Sayegh to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Because of the likely sentence waiting him there, Sayegh attempted to make a claim of asylum under the UN Convention Against Torture in 1998.