DOD Role in CIA's Secret Jails

[G_j]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/13-4


Published on Friday, February 13, 2009 by The Age (Australia)

Defense Role in CIA's Secret Jails
Three human rights groups have obtained documents that confirm US Department of Defense involvement in the CIA's "ghost" detention program, and the existence of secret prisons at Bagram air base in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

The documents obtained as part of a long-running legal battle using freedom-of-information laws were released by the Department of Defense to Amnesty International USA, the Centre for Constitutional Rights and the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice last week.

The groups received about 1000 documents from Defense out of more than 12,000 that have been identified as coming within their request but which are still being withheld by agencies including the CIA and the Department of Justice.

The groups said these documents confirm the existence of secret prisons at Bagram and in Iraq; affirm the Defense Department's co-operation with the CIA's "ghost" detention program; and show one case where Defense sought to delay the release of Guantanamo prisoners who were scheduled to be sent home by a month and a half in order to avoid bad press.

The document from the transport division recommended "hold(ing) 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 recommended transfer in a smaller, more discreet plane. Around that time a UN report on Guantanamo had been released.

The groups said the documents also revealed that Defense had a policy not to register prisoners with the Red Cross for 14 days and sometimes for 30 days in the interests of collecting intelligence and that this policy was known to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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[Peace Patriot]

1. "O, what tangled webs we weave/ when first we practice to deceive." nt