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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 30th,
2010 - Proxy Detention ‘Collusion’ Exposed |
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Proxy Detention ‘Collusion’ Exposed By Andrew Wander Al Jazeera January 30, 2010 Governments around the
world, including those of Arab and European states, have colluded in the
secret detention of terrorism suspects, UN investigators have reported. An extensive report,
released on Wednesday, paints a disturbing picture of a systematic secret
detention programme involving many countries. Officials found that secret
detention "may even amount to a crime against humanity". The 222-page document, which
will be presented at a forthcoming meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, is
the result of several years of investigation, and notes that secret detention
is "a manifold human rights violation that cannot be justified under any
circumstances". Despite clear laws that
outlaw the secret detention of prisoners in both war and peace, the
investigators concluded that in the years following the 9/11 attacks, several
countries took part in the US-run secret detention programme. Complicity Criticisms of US detention
policy since 2001 are nothing new, but the report will make for uncomfortable
reading for leaders in countries accused of colluding with Washington in the
CIA's now defunct rendition and detention programme. The UK, Canada, Australia
and Germany are all accused of "taking advantage of the situation of
secret detention," by sending questions and receiving information from
prisoners held in proxy detention. The report also notes that
the US "asked partners with poor human rights records to secretly detain
and interrogate persons on its behalf," accusing Jordon, Egypt, Syria,
Morocco, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and possibly Uzbekistan of holding
prisoners on behalf of the CIA. The authors admit that some
of the claims of complicity cannot be confirmed, but say the
"consistency of many of the detailed allegations provided separately by
the detainees adds weight" to arguments placing the countries at the
centre of an international extra-legal detention system. While many of the
allegations in the report date back to the Bush years, investigators
criticise Barack Obama, the US president, for not going far enough in
overhauling the system he inherited on taking office. While the report
acknowledges Obama's achievements, it says there is more to do, including
revealing the whereabouts of prisoners who have disappeared in the system. "Clarification is
required as to whether detainees were held in CIA 'black sites' in Iraq and
Afghanistan or elsewhere when President Obama took office, and, if so, what
happened to the detainees who were held at that time," the report says. Disappearances The issue of what has
happened to prisoners held in US secret detention in the past extends beyond
those who were in US custody when Obama took office. The report details the case
of a prisoner who disappeared before Bush left the White House, Mustafa
Setmariam Naser. The author of a number of
books and other publications on Islam and jihad, the Syrian and Spanish
national was seized in Pakistan in 2005 and handed over to the US
authorities. He has not been heard of since, although last year the FBI said
he was no longer in US custody. A June 2009 statement from
the CIA on the issue of Naser's whereabouts said that the agency "could
neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive
to your request," adding that even if the CIA did have the records, they
would be classified. Campaigners now believe that
Naser could be in Syrian custody and are calling on the US government to
reveal where he is being held. The report also attacks the
Obama administration for its treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan,
specifically those held in a prison at Bagram Airbase, describing the
situation there as one of "great concern". The US is holding around 650
prisoners at Bagram. Earlier this month the Obama administration released a
list of their names, the first time prisoners held in Afghanistan have been
formally identified. The UN investigators urged
the US to release additional information, "on the citizenship, length of
detention and place of capture of all detainees currently held" at the
prison. Reactions Accusations of complicity in
the US rendition programme have prompted a furious reaction from some of the
governments singled out by the report. The UK, which is accused of
complicity in the cases "of several individuals, including Binyam
Mohamed, Salahuddin Amin, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Rangzieb Ahmed and Rashid
Rauf," rejected the report as "unsubstantiated and
irresponsible". "There is no truth in
the suggestion that it is our policy to collude, solicit or participate in
abuses of prisoners," a spokesman for the British foreign office said,
adding that any debate on the issue "needs to be informed by more than
unsubstantiated rumour and allegation". But the report concludes
that secret detention is a reality that needs to be addressed. "The evidence gathered
by the four experts for the present study clearly show that many states,
referring to concerns relating to national security - often perceived or
presented as unprecedented emergencies or threats - resort to secret
detention," it says. "With very few
exceptions, too little has been done to investigate allegations of
complicity." External link: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/humanrightsfocus/2010/01/201013011342469936.html |