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Secret Prison Stirs International Reaction
by Robert Raffaele
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-03-voa60.cfm
Washington, D.C.
European Commission said it will investigate published
reports that the CIA set up secret jails in eastern Europe
to detain high-profile terrorism suspects. The Commission
says the governments of the EU's 25 member nations
will be informally questioned about the allegations. As
VOA's Robert Raffaele explains, EU commissioners
are concerned about possible human rights violations.
The European Union reacted to a Washington Post
newspaper report that the Central Intelligence Agency
has set up a network of secret prisons in eight countries,
including one in Afghanistan, code-named "the Salt Pit."
The report cited U.S. and foreign officials as saying the CIA has been hiding and
interrogating some of its most important al-Qaida captives in a Soviet-era compound
somewhere in Eastern Europe.
In Washington, U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley would neither confirm
nor deny the sites' existence. He insisted President Bush's war on terrorism complies
with international law.
"The President has been very clear that we are going to do that in a way that is
consistent with our values, and that is why he has been very clear that the United
States will not torture, the United States will conduct its activities in compliance
with [the] law and international obligations," said Mr. Hadley.
The locations of the so-called "black sites" are said to be known to only a handful
of U.S. officials.
Former and current U.S. intelligence officials tell the Post more than 100 suspected
terrorists are in the covert system, created after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
They reportedly include al-Qaida operations chief Abu Zubaida, and 9/11 planner Ramzi
Binalshibh.
Intelligence officials told the Post the CIA detains high-profile suspects overseas,
because it is illegal for the government to hold prisoners in secret prisons in the
U.S. But legal experts said the CIA's internment policy also would be considered
illegal under the laws of the "black site" nations.
The report says all the nations in question signed the U.N. Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -- as did the
United States.
EU spokesman Frisco Roscam Abbing said, "It is clear that all 25 member states,
having signed up to the convention on human rights and to the international
convention against torture, are due to respect and fully implement the obligations
derived from those two treaties."
The U.S. has invited independent human rights experts from the United Nations to
visit its Guantanamo Bay, Cuba complex, where 500 Taliban and al-Qaida suspects are
being held.
But the International Red Cross has asked the U.S. government about the report of
secret jails.
Europe's human rights organization, the Council of Europe, also wants to know if the
reports are true.
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I intend to last long enough to put out of business all *****-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.
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"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
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