New Evidence of DOD Cooperation with CIA Ghost Detention Program

[kpete]

Source: Amnesty International

Amnesty International USA
For Immediate Release
February 12, 2009

Contact:
Jen Nessel, CCR, 212 614 6449, [e-mail]

Veerle Opgenhaffen, NYU CHRGJ, 212 992 8186, [e-mail]
Sharon Singh, AIUSA, 202 544 0200 x 289, [e-mail]

Rights Groups Release Documents Obtained in FOIA Case Relating to Secret Detention, Extraordinary Rendition, and Torture Program

New Evidence of DOD Cooperation with CIA Ghost Detention Program

February 12, 2009, New York and Washington, DC—Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit confirm Department of Defense involvement in the CIA’s ghost detention program, revealed three prominent human rights groups today. The groups—Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ)—today released documents obtained from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and U.S. Department of State (DOS), resulting from their lawsuit seeking the disclosure of government documents that relate to secret detention, extraordinary rendition, and torture. At a public press conference, the groups revealed that these documents confirm the existence of secret prisons at Bagram and in Iraq; affirm the DOD’s cooperation with the CIA’s ghost detention program; and show one case where the DOD sought to delay the release of Guantánamo prisoners who were scheduled to be sent home by a month and a half in order to avoid bad press.

“These newly released documents confirm our suspicion that the tentacles of the CIA’s abusive program reached across agency lines,” said Margaret Satterthwaite, Director of the NYU International Human Rights Clinic. “In fact, it is increasingly obvious that defense officials engaged in legal gymnastics to find ways to cooperate with the CIA’s activities. A full accounting of all agencies must now take place to ensure that future abuses don’t continue under a different guise.”

While 928 of the 950 pages of documents from the Transportation Command of the DOD are reprinted news articles, there is one internal email dated February 17, 2006—relating to Guantánamo detainees scheduled for release—that is of note. It recommends “hold off on return flights for 45 days or so until things die down. Otherwise we are likely to have hero’s welcomes awaiting the detainees when they arrive.” The email also recommends transfer in a smaller, more discrete plane and has attached a reference to the United Nations (UN) report released around that time criticizing Guantánamo.

“It is astonishing that the government may have delayed releasing men from Guantánamo in order to avoid bad press,” said CCR attorney Gitanjali Gutierrez, who represents many of the men held in Guantánamo and has made 30 trips to the base since 2004. “Proposing to hold men for a month and a half after they were deemed releasable is inexcusable. The Obama Administration should avoid repeating this injustice and release the innocent individuals with all due haste.”

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090212003&lang=e

Read more: http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090212003&lang=e

[pleah]

1. K&R It is not "astonishing" to me. n/t

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. Just one more bit of the evidence...

one step closer to the truth and justice.

[Soylent Brice]

3. .

:kick:

[democrank]

4. Bring them to justice...

every last one of them.

[EFerrari]

5. No amnety for torturers.