Chapter 3 Conditions of Detention | 49 95. 96. 78 79 80 again, but to obtain information and gather intelligence on the Al-Qaida network.” In this regard, the report states that “the indefinite detention of prisoners of war and civilian internees for purposes of continued interrogation is inconsistent with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions.” 78 The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, has reiterated that “all detentions that take place away from the field of battle should be covered by the international law of human rights -which prohibits prolonged arbitrary detention-- even if they are carried out under a rhetorical “war on terror.””79 The Special Rapporteur finds that the U.S. practice of holding detainees indefinitely if it is determined that they pose a significant threat to the security of the United States is a violation of the prohibition of torture and illtreatment under Article 7 of the ICCPR and CAT Articles 1 and 16, as well as of relevant provisions of the American Declaration, as incorporated in the Charter of the Organization of American States. 80 Therefore, based on the above mentioned standards set by both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, the indefinite detention of persons still held at Guantanamo without charge after more than a decade, mainly for the purpose of obtaining intelligence, constitutes a serious violation of their right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article I of the American Declaration. This persistence of prolonged and indefinite detention clearly goes beyond an exceptional and strictly necessary measure ordered for security reasons, and is arbitrary and unjust. Prisoners detained in the context of non-international armed conflicts may only be held for security reasons and they cannot, therefore, be held indefinitely for purposes of interrogation. In this regard, the Inter-American Commission emphatically reiterates the need to adopt concrete measures to end the indefinite detention of detainees at Guantanamo. UN Economic and Social Council, E/CN.4/2006/120, February 27, 2006, para. 23. Available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/45377b0b0.html Statement of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Mendez, IACHR’s Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Washington DC, October 3, 2013, p. 4. Statement of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Mendez, IACHR’s Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Washington DC, October 3, 2013, p. 5. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR