Special Rapporteur calls for justice for victims on anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks

GENEVA (11 September 2024) – Too many victims and families devastated by the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States still await justice 23 years later, an independent human rights expert said today. Ben Saul, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, issued the following statement on the September 11 anniversary:

“On the anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks on the United States of 11 September 2001, I solemnly commemorate the victims from over 100 countries, with 2,977 people killed, including 441 first responders, and over 6,000 injured. I pay tribute to the courage and resilience of the survivors and the victims’ families and loved ones and welcome the genuine efforts of the U.S. Government to assist the victims and their families. However, there is still more to do, and I urge the U.S. to comprehensively assist all victims of terrorism in future by implementing United Nations standards.

The unfathomable violence on 9/11 against ordinary people going about their daily lives was a crime against humanity, but sadly, 23 years later, the victims remain starved of justice because successive U.S. governments have undermined efforts towards genuine accountability.

Closure for the victims is impeded by the legacy of illegal renditions, torture, inhuman detention conditions, unfair trials before irregular military commissions, arbitrary detention, and other violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. These gross violations have thwarted justice for over two decades and rendered genuinely fair trials virtually impossible.

Most recently, the trial of three 9/11 suspects has been further delayed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense revoking a credible plea agreement to sentence them to life imprisonment.

The conditions of detention for the remaining 30 detainees at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, do not appear to meet international standards, including in relation to medical care, torture and trauma rehabilitation, access to lawyers, and family visitation. Sixteen of the remaining detainees have been cleared for release and await resettlement abroad, after decades in detention without charge.

Many of the approximately 741 people released from detention at Guantánamo Bay, including foreign nationals resettled in 29 third countries, face acute vulnerabilities and have not had adequate, sustained support to recover from the trauma suffered from torture and protracted, inhumane detention. Some were arbitrarily detained, tortured, or were abusively charged with crimes upon arrival in other countries.

Very recently, a significant number of men were expelled from two supposedly safe third countries to their countries of origin, where they face risks of serious human rights violations. This was despite apparent diplomatic assurances secured by the U.S., but not enforced by it, that they were not to be returned to risks of harm. Despite its errors in detaining many innocent people, the U.S. has not provided them with remedies, including rehabilitation and compensation.

U.S. officials involved in serious violations of international law in the ‘war on terror’, including torture, have largely enjoyed impunity for decades. Given its global pre-eminence, U.S. impunity signals to other countries that lawlessness and international crimes are acceptable while countering terrorism. That signal continues to be acted on around the world, including by U.S. allies.

A reckoning is long overdue. U.S. double standards in not accepting the international rule of law erodes the enforcement of the law everywhere and undermines the credibility and legitimacy of the global order designed to protect all humanity.

I encourage the U.S. Government to fully implement the recommendations of my predecessor after her technical visit to the United States and Guantánamo Detention Facility in 2023. These include accountability, compensation, and apology for victims of U.S. violations.”