Secret CIA Prisons

Various news source are reporting today on the discovery of dozens of secret CIA-run prisons around the globe. The world was shocked by the prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Afghanistan. With these secret prisons flying under the RADAR screens, the international community and human rights advocates are concerned of further systemic abuse and human rights violations at these facilities. The US Government will neither confirm nor deny the existence of these prisons.

The CIA has been hiding and interrogating al Qaeda captives at a secret facility in Eastern Europe, part of a covert global prison system that has included sites in eight countries and was set up after the September 11, 2001, attacks, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

The secret network included "several democracies in Eastern Europe" as well as Thailand and Afghanistan, the newspaper reported, but it did not publish the names of the European countries at the request of senior U.S. officials.

U.S. government officials declined comment on the report, which was likely to stir up fresh criticism of the Bush administration's treatment of prisoners in its declared war on terrorism since the September 11 attacks.
Russia and Bulgaria immediately denied any facility was there. Thailand also denied it was host to such a facility.

U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley would not comment directly, but said President George W. Bush had made clear the United States fought terrorism while respecting the law, and investigated allegations of misconduct.

"While we have to do what is necessary to defend the country against terrorists and to win the war on terror, the president has been very clear that we're 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," Hadley said.

*Sigh* - If only I believed them anymore.

Reuters: Secret CIA Prisons