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According to White House officials, government lawyers addressing the UN this week will reclassify the U.S. government’s stance on torture under the Geneva Conventions. “In contrast to positions previously taken by the U.S. government, the delegation will affirm that U.S. obligations under Article 16, which prohibits cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, do not apply exclusively inside the territorial United States,” a White House statement says. The U.S. will extend those provisions to areas in which the U.S. government operates as a governmental authority, such as at Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. will also clarify that the Geneva Conventions are not suspended during wartime. This is the first time the U.S. has come before the Committee Against Torture since President Obama was elected. It is not clear if this applies to the force-feeding those on hunger strike, which laywers of prisoners at Gitmo say is tantamount to torture.