CAT/C/USA/CO/3-5 Military accountability for abuses 13. The information provided by the State party’s delegation indicates that the United States Department of Defense has conducted “thousands of investigations since 2001, and prosecuted or disciplined hundreds of service members for mistreatment of detainees and other misconduct”. However, the Committee regrets that, in the course of the dialogue, the delegation only provided minimal statistics on the number of investigations, prosecutions, disciplinary proceedings and corresponding reparations. The Committee also did not receive sufficient information about the sentences and criminal or disciplinary sanctions imposed on offenders or about whether the alleged perpetrators of those acts were suspended or expelled from the United States military, pending the outcome of the investigation of the abuses. In the absence of that information, the Committee is unable to assess whether the State party’s actions are in conformity with the provisions of article 12 of the Convention (arts. 2, 12, 13, 14 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Ensure that all instances of torture and ill-treatment by military personnel are promptly and impartially investigated, that alleged perpetrators are prosecuted and, if found guilty, punished appropriately, and that effective reparation, including adequate compensation, is granted to every victim; (b) Ensure that alleged perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment are immediately suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation, particularly when there is a risk that they might otherwise be in a position to repeat the alleged act or to obstruct the investigation. Guantanamo Bay detention facilities 14. The Committee expresses its deep concern that the State party continues to hold a number of individuals without charge in the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities. Notwithstanding the State party’s position that those individuals were captured and detained as “enemy belligerents” and that, under the law of war, it is permitted “to hold them until the end of the hostilities”, the Committee reiterates that indefinite detention without charge constitutes, per se, a violation of the Convention (CAT/C/USA/CO/2, para. 22). According to the figures provided by the delegation, to date, out of the 148 men still held at the facility, only 33 have been designated for potential prosecution, either in federal court or by military commissions, and the latter fail to meet international fair trial standards. The Committee notes with concern that 36 others have been designated for “continued law of war detention”. While noting that detainees held in Guantanamo Bay have the constitutional privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the Committee is concerned at reports that indicate that federal courts have rejected a significant number of habeas corpus petitions. While noting the explanations provided by the State party concerning the conditions of detention at Guantanamo Bay, the Committee remains concerned about the secrecy surrounding conditions of confinement, especially in Camp 7, where high-value detainees are housed. It also notes the studies received on the cumulative effect of the conditions of detention and treatment in Guantanamo Bay on the psychological health of detainees. There have been nine deaths in Guantanamo during the period under review, including seven suicides. In that respect, another cause of concern is the repeated suicide attempts and recurrent mass hunger strike protests by detainees over indefinite detention and conditions of detention. In that connection, the Committee considers that force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike constitutes ill-treatment in violation of the Convention. Furthermore, it notes that lawyers of detainees have argued in court that force-feedings are allegedly 6