H1-Current+Event


 * CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prison**

According to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement, the CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda members at an overseas in Eastern Europe. It is illegal for the government to hold prisoners in isolation in secret prisons in the United States, and that’s why the CIA has placed them overseas. Legal experts and intelligence officials said that the CIA's internment practices also would be considered illegal under the laws of several host countries, where detainees have rights to have a lawyer or to mount a defense against allegations of wrongdoing. Host countries have talked to the U.N. Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Treatment or Punishment, as the United States does. Yet CIA interrogators in the overseas sites are permitted to use the CIA's approved Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, some of which are prohibited by the U.N. convention and by the U.S. military law. They include tactics such as "water boarding," in which a prisoner is made to believe he or she is drowning.

The secret facility was formatted nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several other countries in Eastern Europe, and a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents. The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country. Virtually nothing is known about who is kept in the facilities, what interrogation methods are employed with them, or how decisions are made about whether they should be detained or for how long. Although the CIA will not let acknowledge details of its system, intelligence officials defend the agency's approach, arguing that the successful defense of the country requires that the agency be empowered to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as necessary and without restrictions imposed by the U.S. legal system or even by the military tribunals established for prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. It affects About 30. Which are considered major terrorism suspects and have been held under the highest level of secrecy at black sites financed by the CIA and managed by agency personnel, including those in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, according to current and former intelligence officers and two other U.S. government officials. Two locations in this category -- in Thailand and on the grounds of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay -- were closed in 2003 and 2004, respectively.A second group, which these sources believe includes more than 70 persons, which is a group considered less important, with less direct involvement in terrorism and having limited intelligence value.

It’s occurring in eight countries in Eastern Europe including a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. The 30, which are considered major terrorism suspects have been held under the highest level of secrecy at black sites financed by the CIA and managed by agency personnel, including those in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. And a second group, which it’s believed that includes more than 70 persons that considered less important, with less direct involvement in terrorism and having limited intelligence value, are held in Thailand and on the grounds of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country. The CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons event began about four years ago. It began after the September 11, 2001, and the white house already had a list of the top terrorist and after September 11, 2001 they began supporting the secret prisons financially, and placed the secret prisons overseas because it was illegal to do it in the U.S.

This event shows intolerance by not letting the terrorist have the right to get a lawyer and this secret prison is illegal and that’s why they do it in other countries, and which other countries have talked to the U.N. Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Treatment or Punishment, as the United States does it. Yet CIA interrogators in the overseas sites are permitted to use the CIA's approved Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, some of which are prohibited by the U.N. convention and by the U.S. military law. They include tactics such as "water boarding," in which a prisoner is made to believe he or she is drowning. Arguing that the successful defense of the country requires that the agency be empowered to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as necessary and without restrictions imposed by the U.S. legal system or even by the military tribunals established for prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. We can help by reinforcing the rights of people. And choose a government that follow what the UN says if the government is doing something illegal and against the law. Another thing we could do to help is to make a law that no president is above the UN.



Taliban members are shown to news photographers at the prison in Kabul, Afghanistan. The CIA's secret U.S. interrogation center there is known as "The Pit."