Black site

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 This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

The term black site refers to secret CIA-controlled detainment facilities with only minimal Congressional oversight.

Contents

Suspected black sites

* Several Eastern Europe countries have denied hosting black sites: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Bulgaria. Slovakian ministry spokesman Richard Fides said the country had no black sites, but its intelligence service spokesman Vladimir Simko said he would not disclose any information about possible Slovakian black sites to the media.

Detainees in CIA custody

The Washington Post article on November 2, 2005 estimated that approximately thirty of the detainees in CIA custody possessed high intelligence value. They also estimated that the CIA holds another 100 detainees with low intelligence value.


Main article: Detainees in CIA custody

Reports

The Washington Post in December 26, 2002, reported about a secret CIA prison in one corner of Bagram Air Force Base consisting of metal shipping containers. In March 14, 2004, The Guardian reported that three Englishmen were held captive in a secret section (Camp Echo) of the Guantanamo Bay complex.

In a November 2, 2005, article appearing in The Washington Post, it was revealed that the U.S. Government was detaining more than 100 terrorism suspects in 8 secret facilities. According to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats, there is a network of foreign prisons that includes or has included sites in several European democracies, Thailand, Afghanistan, and a small portion of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. At the request of U.S. officials, the Washington Post declined to publish the names of the Eastern European countries involved.[16]

On November 3, 2005, Tom Malinowski of the New York-based Human Rights Watch cited circumstantial evidence pointing to Poland and Romania hosting CIA-operated covert prisons. Flight records obtained by the group documented a Boeing 737 leased by the CIA for transporting prisoners leaving Kabul and making stops in Poland, Romania before continuing on to Morocco, and finally Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.[17][18] Such flight patterns might corroborate the claims of government officials that prisoners are grouped into different classes being deposited in different locations. Malinowski's comments prompted quick denials by both Polish and Romanian government officials as well as sparking the concern of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who called for access to all foreign terrorism suspects held by the United States. Additionally, the European Union (EU) and Europe's top human rights organization, the Council of Europe pledged to investigate the allegations.

Controversy

The revelation of such black sites adds to the controversy surrounding U.S. policy regarding political prisoners. According to government sources, the detainees are broken into two groups. Approximately 30 detainees are considered the most dangerous or important terrorism suspects and are held at the black sites under the most secretive arrangements by the CIA. The second group is comprised of more than 70 detainees who may have originally been sent to black sites, but are soon delivered to intelligence agencies in Middle Eastern and Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Morocco, and Egypt. This process is sometimes called "rendition". The CIA also apparently plays a role in such transfers often financially assisting and directing the jails in these countries. While the U.S. and host countries have signed the United Nations Convention Against Torture, CIA officers are allowed to use what the agency calls Enhanced Interrogation Techniques which violate the UN Convention and U.S. law. These tactics include many controversial interrogation practices.

See also

References

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