GENEVA – The United States must set a better example for the world in areas such as its treatment of Latin American migrants to its handling of detainees in the war on terror, U.N. human rights experts said Monday.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee is conducting a periodic review of Washington’s adherence to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The committee is expected to issue conclusions before the end of the month.

Member Hipolito Solari Yrigoyen, an Argentine lawyer and human rights activist, said he worried about U.S. efforts to deal with illegal migrants from Mexico.

“My major concern … is the level of militarization on the border with Mexico,” he said. “Militarization of the border creates a conflict zone.”

Panel member Sir Nigel Rodley, a British law professor, criticized the alleged U.S. practice of holding detainees in the war on terror for long periods.

Abdelfattah Amor, a senior Tunisian law professor, noted allegations of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the U.S. detention center for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“While the U.S. obligations under the covenant do not apply outside of U.S. territory, it is important to recall that there is a body of both domestic and international law that protects individuals outside U.S. territory,” said State Department official Matthew Waxman.