These have been alleged to constitute "severe pain or suffering" under the UN convention, which would be a violation of the treaty and thus US law. Learn how your comment data is processed. US accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships. [70], In June 2008, a New York Times article claimed, citing unnamed CIA officers, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was held in a secret facility in Poland near Szymany Airport, about 160km (100mi) north of Warsaw and it was there where he was interrogated and the waterboarding was applied. It's out of their control after that, but we're arresting people in international waters, often on foreign boats, thousands of miles from the United States. The Secret Life of Prisons tells the hidden stories from behind bars. [125] Costa Pinto wrote a book about his investigation. To Scan Your Thoughts "To Enhance User Safety". Tim Bissell is a writer and researcher who works in the Canadian television industry. [70] Slovak 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 Slovak black sites to the media. [125], Gomes was highly critical of the Portuguese government's reluctance to comply with the European Parliament Commission investigation into the CIA flights, leading to tensions with Foreign Minister Lus Amado, a member of her party. [42] Thailand has denied the existence of the site while the US government has neither confirmed or denied its existence. And that's one of the reasons why federal prosecutors prefer to bring these cases to Florida, where that burden of proof is not required. When these cutters capture a boat carrying drugs, the smugglers are brought onto the ships and kept shackled to the deck, sometimes outside in the elements, until the Coast Guard makes arrangements for them to be transported back to the U.S. for trial. r/teenagers is the biggest community forum run by teenagers for teenagers. secret floating prisons - Unitedenergygroupllc.com [37] Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has denied these reports.[38][39][40][41]. According to the leading Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, soon after Siemitkowski was charged by the prosecutors in Warsaw, the case was transferred and is now expected to be handled by a different prosecutorial team in Cracow. [46] Also in Afghanistan, Jalalabad and Asadabad have been reported as suspected sites.[47]. Ireland was so troubled in the 1820s and 30s that gaols were overflowing. A former riding school in Antaviliai, a village some 25 kilometres (16mi) from Vilnius, was said to have been converted into a jail by the CIA in 2004. On November 20, 2002, Gul Rahman died of hypothermia after being beaten, stripped naked, and chained to the floor during a freezing cold night. The report also uncovered the use of secret detention facilities used in Europe, including Romania and Poland. In a European context, what the U.S. does would not meet the standard, he stated. likes, 174 loves, 691 comments, 1,8 . The argument by the Coast Guard and by federal prosecutors [is] that these logistical delays are legitimate, as its hard enough to get people back. The scandal of secret CIA prisons exploded in February 2005, after several revelations in the Washington Post. Where is the world's largest floating prison? - Corrections1 Aafia's case gained notoriety due to Yvonne Ridley's allegations in her book, The Grey Lady of Bagram, a ghostly female detainee, who kept prisoners awake "with her haunting sobs and piercing screams". The law does not allow for us to throw this case out. The vast majority of information that has been provided to the public about black sites has been the result of investigative reporting. On November 4, 2009, an Italian judge convicted (in absentia) 23 of the Americans, including a U.S. Air Force (USAF) colonel. The article went on to state that a Boeing 737 (registration number N313P, later reregistered N4476S) "was routed through Shannon and Dublin on fourteen occasions from January 1, 2003 to the end of 2004. The detainees have been imprisoned for more than a year despite the Hadhramout Specialized Criminal Court granting their release. [13], In January 2012, Poland's Prosecutor General's office initiated investigative proceedings against Zbigniew Siemitkowski, the former Polish intelligence chief. To some in France, Black Friday is "another English word, it's annoying", How a NAFTA repeal would affect Mexican business depends on who you ask. Is there any underground prisons? Your email address will not be published. However, the Central Intelligence Agency was discovered using waterboarding in secret prisons following the 9/11 attacks, justified as "enhanced interrogation." . A further 15 ships are suspected of having operated around the British territory of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, which has been used as a military base by the UK and the Americans. The Coast Guard is operating secret, floating prisons in the Pacific. Department of Defense: Art Created by Guantnamo Bay Detainees Belongs to U.S. Palestinian Prisoners Stage Hunger Strike, With General Inch in Charge, We Can Expect Further Militarization of the Prison System, PrisonCloud Provides Limited Internet Access to Belgian Prisoners, The Other Conspirator: Secret Origins of the CIA's Torture Program, China Pledges to Stop Taking Organs from Executed Prisoners, China Vows to Finance Mass Incarceration with Public Funds, Not Prison Profits. Copyright A. Michael Froomkin (some rights reserved), June 2, 2008 14 comments. However, the lawyer representing the LDH declared that he was surprised that the judicial investigation was only opened on January 20, 2006, and that no verifications had been done before. They helped us break up a cell of Southeast Asian terrorist operatives that had been groomed for attacks inside the United States. Your email address will not be published. Unofficially, according to a 2014 report from Al Jazeera America, Djiboutis Camp Lemonnier is also a CIA black site that saw dozens of suspects secretly detained, interrogated, and tortured. [2] Black sites in China are also known as black jails. The rest of the report remains classified for unpublished reasons. She was allegedly detained for five years at Bagram with her children; she was the only female prisoner. Haunted . In the 1960s and 1970s, the UK deported the native people of the atoll to Mauritius and the Seychelles in order to allow the United States to construct a large naval and military base now known as Camp Thunder Cove. This was apparently due to a misunderstanding that arose concerning the similarity of the spelling of El-Masri's name with the spelling of suspected terrorist Khalid al-Masri. Reprieve, a human right's organization, claims there have been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006 and that the US may have used as many as 17 ships as " floating prisons " since 2001. The USS Bataan used as an illegal prison/jail/torture holding tank? [36], In Thailand, the Voice of America relay station in Ban Dung District of Udon Thani Province was reported to be a CIA black site known as "Cat's Eye" or "Detention Site Green". This number of 100 persons does not overlap, but adds itself to the U.S.-detained 100 ghost detainees.[28]. Are private prisons safer? likes, 175 loves, 691 comments, 1,8 . Danner also provided excerpts of the ICRC report characterizing procedures used at the black sites, dubbed "an alternative set of procedures" by President Bush, and discussed whether they fit the definition of torture.[14]. Black sites are embroiled in controversy over the legal status of the detainees held there, the legal authority for the operation of the sites (including the collaboration between governments involved), and full (or even minimal) disclosure by the governments involved. What kind of prisoners go to private prisons? November 2017 - Through the Looking-Glass June 27, 2014. I would wake up feeling the chains digging into my ankle and jerking my leg thinking I was shackled, and feel my leg freed and be relieved that I was not chained there on the boat. The CIA coordinated the release of classified information to the media, including inaccurate information concerning the effectiveness of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. In May 2007, Masri was committed to a psychiatric institution after he was arrested in the southern German city of Neu-Ulm on suspicion of arson. November 28, 2017 . More Videos. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. In its 26 December 2020 video statement SAM cited one of its reports citing that the Saudi and UAE forces subjected the Yemeni detainees to cruel forms of torture.[55][56][57], Mwatana for Human Rights reported on 11 April 2021 about the continued forceful detention of approximately 27 civilians at the Al Munawara Central Prison, Mukalla City, Yemen by UAE authorities. Negro fantasy. In fact, I spoke to Coast Guard commanders who are really uncomfortable about the conditions on their ship and uncomfortable about the amount of time people are held. The CIA marginalized and ignored numerous internal critiques, criticisms, and objections concerning the operation and management of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program. Simple Product Reprieve, a human right's organization, claims there have been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006 and that the US may have used as many as 17 ships as "floating prisons" since 2001. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. The property was purchased in 2004 by Elite LLC, a company registered in Washington, DC. Among those ships was the USS Ashland, a Whidbey Islandclass dock landing ship that weighs 16,000 tons and measures 186 meters (610 ft) in length. I havent heard a thing since on this floating prison claim. Answer (1 of 3): They did back in the Victorian era like when San Quentin was a ship anchored in the harbor before the prison was built.. the prisoners built the prison and started with the C.O's Barricks first. A fax intercepted by the Onyx Swiss interception system, from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to its London embassy, stated that 23 prisoners were clandestinely interrogated by the U.S. at the base. However, as the Times report notes, "when the Coast Guard has had to move people more quickly, they do. He really didn't know all that much about what he was doing. These are 10 Secret Prisons The Government Are HidingClick to Subscribe.. http://bit.ly/WTVC4xFAQ's:What editing software do we use? The questioning of these and other suspected terrorists provided information that helped us protect the American people. Do private prisons still exist in the US? [71][72][73] In 2007, it was disclosed by Dick Marty (investigator) that the CIA allegedly had secret prisons in Poland and Romania. [111] The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, John D. Rockefeller IV, wrote to acting attorney general Peter D. Keisler, asking for copies of all opinions on interrogation since 2004. For full details, see the section below on the media and investigative history. The other suspected aircraft would have landed in Brest on March 31, 2002. US Accused of Regime of Secret Floating Prisons - Discourse.net [68] On 21 February 2008, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted that two United States extraordinary rendition flights refuelled on Diego Garcia in 2002, and was "very sorry" that earlier denials were having to be corrected. The UK may also face liabilities over apparent violations of international treaties. The Coast Guard usually has a reputation for being the good guys out there rescuing people, apprehending bad guys. [citation needed], The interior minister of Romania, Vasile Blaga, has assured the EU that the Mihail Koglniceanu Airport was used only as a supply point for equipment, and never for detention, though there have been reports to the contrary. It also awarded Abu Zubaydah 30,000 euros to cover his costs. According to Giovanni Fava (Socialist Party), who drafted the document, there was a "strong possibility" that the intelligence obtained under the extraordinary rendition illegal program had been passed on to EU governments who were aware of how it was obtained. At Camp Eagle, a former Yugoslavian air base, the pair claimed that they were beaten and harassed by soldiers before being held and questioned by Americans in civilian clothing. The report defines extraordinary renditions as instances where "an individual suspected of involvement in terrorism is illegally abducted, arrested and/or transferred into the custody of US officials and/or transported to another country for interrogation which, in the majority of cases involves incommunicado detention and torture".UK officials have further denied any claims and many investing officials agree to it that UK was not involved in the Djibouti is a highly strategic location for the US military, primarily due to its close proximity to terrorist hot zones such as Somalia and Yemen as well as the pirate-filled Gulf of Aden. Did A Doctor Discover Proof Of Past Lives, What Happens To Prisoners During A Disaster, 1 Navy Seal Vs The Spartan 300 Who Actually Would Win. In the 1970s, the area was used by Polish intelligence officers, despite maps naming the site as a holiday resort. Nevertheless, there are many indications from various sources which must be considered reliable, justifying the continuation of the analytical and investigative work. Responding to the allegations about black sites, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated on December 5, 2005 that the U.S. had not violated any country's sovereignty in the rendition of suspects, and that individuals were never rendered to countries where it was believed that they might be tortured. On October 9, 2007, the United States Supreme Court declined without comment to hear an appeal of El-Masri's civil lawsuit against the United States (El-Masri v. Tenet), letting stand an earlier verdict by a federal district court judge, which was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Someone would ask to be taken to the restroom so that we could try to reach the trash and take the food, Quijije said in testimony. Secret prisons: Obama's order to close 'black sites' - The Guardian