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Watchdog urges 'CIA jails' probe

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4408410.stm

The Council of Europe has demanded an investigation into claims the US ran secret
jails for terror suspects.
The human rights watchdog called the claims "extremely worrying" and said such
prisons would constitute a serious human rights violation.
A US newspaper said such prisons were set up in eight countries - some of them
unnamed Eastern European states.
"It is essential that these allegations be thoroughly investigated," said Human
Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles.
"Such practices would constitute a serious human rights violation, and further proof
of the crisis of values that the use of certain methods in the fight against
terrorism is proving," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
The European Commission, meanwhile, says it will encourage states in eastern Europe
to comment on the claims.
Some governments have already issued denials, including Romania and Poland which were
named by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) as possible hosts for the prisons.
The Commission will be seeking statements from countries that have not yet denied the
existence of such prisons on their territories, said EU spokesman Friso Roscam
Abbing.
'Mystery plane'
HRW said on Thursday that a study of international air flight data, covering the
summer of 2003, appeared to suggest the "black sites" in Europe were in Romania and a
former military airport in north-east Poland.
Polish officials and border guards at Szczytno-Szymany airport confirm a Boeing
carrying seven people with US passports landed on the date stated by HRW, the AFP
news agency reports.
But the authorities - including the airport's former director - deny any knowledge of
prisoner transfers and say they did not know where the plane came from or where it
went to, AFP says.
Poland's outgoing Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said: "We aren't detaining
terrorists, or interrogating them, or doing anything else with them."
The denial theoretically leaves open the possibility that prisoners have been
detained on Polish soil by the Americans themselves, says the BBC's Jan Repa.
Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said: "There are no CIA bases in Romania."
Major terror suspects
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the centres - known as "black sites" -
were set up in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the US in 2001.
About 30 detainees, considered major terrorism suspects, were held by the CIA at
these sites, according to the paper.
Another group of at least 70 detainees had since been handed over to intelligence
services in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Afghanistan and other countries.
All the sites had now been closed, the paper said.
The CIA has refused to comment.
Those with close links to the intelligence agencies say the US government keeps
suspected al-Qaeda operatives secretly incarcerated on foreign soil so that they are
not able to contest their detention in US courts and can be interrogated over a long
period.

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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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