On the US secret detention centers around the world; Amnesty accusation
Regional-USA, Politics, 11/8/2005

Amnesty International accused the US of holding secret CIA controlled detention centers were people are kidnapped and disappear. Amnesty spoke about one such person saying: "Fatima al-Assad, age 12, daughter of Muhammad al-Assad, who "disappeared" after his arrest in 2003
"Brother, what is your name, what village are you from?" It was distinctive Yemeni Arabic that greeted Muhammad al-Assad as he stumbled, still hooded and shackled, from the plane at SanaÕa. For the first time in nearly 18 months he knew what country he was in. He heard the question repeated twice more, as Salah Nasser Salim ÔAli and Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah emerged onto the hot tarmac. He still could not see them, and had not known they were on the plane with him, but he could hear one of them shouting over and over again: "I am Bashmilah, I am Bashmilah, I am from Aden".

Amnesty added: The three, all Yemeni nationals, had "disappeared" in 2003, and had been kept in complete isolation Ð even from each other Ð in a series of secret detention centres apparently run by US agents. Senior Yemeni officials have told Amnesty International that they first heard of the men in May 2005, when the US Embassy in Yemen informed them that the three would be flown to SanaÕa and transferred to Yemeni custody the following day. No further information or evidence against the men was provided, but the Yemenis say they were instructed by the US to keep them in custody. All three continue to be held in a kind of extralegal limbo; they have not been charged with any offence, given any sentence, or brought before any court or judge. The only improvement in their situation, they say, is that their families now know that they are alive."

Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman for the US Department Of State was asked yesterday about the revelations of secret detention centers around the world being used by the US and was asked "The fact that there were allegations that the United States restricts freedom. Does that not impact on the freedom agenda that you're pushing?"

MR. ERELI: I think the United States, by word and deed, strives to be an example.

QUESTION: Right.

MR. ERELI: And I think that's -- we must, you know -- there's no country in the world that has a perfect system and there's no country in the world that can't stand to make improvements in some areas. And I think that everybody, when talking about allegations of abuse, you know, whether it be Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo or whatever, makes the same point that we have -- we have laws and values and principles and instructions in specific cases that we follow, that guide us. And that on occasions when there are abuses, when there are violations of those laws and principles and guidances and instructions, then we are going to take action. We are going to take action to investigate. We are going to take action to find out who's responsible and to see that people are held accountable.

.. then again, I think that the example we're trying to set is, we've got principles, we respect those principles, we respect those values, we act consistent with them and equally importantly, we are motivated by a sense of rule of law and a sense of transparency.

QUESTION: So in these laws, values, principles, instructions and specific rules, is there guidance there that says the United States can't have secret detention facilities around the world?

MR. ERELI: We've been over that one before.

QUESTION: Well, is there? Is there?

MR. ERELI: I'm not at --

QUESTION: You entered a question about public diplomacy --

MR. ERELI: I told you, it's not --

QUESTION: -- saying, we've got all these things which guide us. Do you they guide you to answer that question?

MR. ERELI: It's not a subject I'm going to speak to.

QUESTION: Well, but I mean, you talk about by word and deed, you strive to be an example. But then you say, no country has a perfect system.

MR. ERELI: Right.

QUESTION: Okay. But, there is no other country that espouses these values as --

MR. ERELI: I would dispute that.

QUESTION: No, no, no, no, no, no. I was going to say as loudly and forcefully and calls itself a champion of spreading democracy throughout the world, like the United States does, so don't you think that if you're going to be the one that's, you know, the self-imposed kind of spreader of democracy around the world, that shouldn't you be beyond reproach?

MR. ERELI: I don't -- again, I don't -- nobody's beyond reproach, nobody's beyond reproach, nobody's perfect. No person or country can say, "we make no error; we commit no fault." And the issue is do you recognize -- do you recognize and own up to it when things go wrong and do you take action to find out why and how and take remedies? And I would submit to you that there are very few countries that can meet our example of self-examination and correction and aspirations to improvement and to always striving to be better than you are. And that's an example, I think, that finds resonance elsewhere.

Now, the other point I would take issue with is, look, the position of the United States -- the way we characterize it is spread democracy, our position is that we seek to help those who are moving to -- who believe in a (inaudible) want to change and want to help make their countries more representative, more democratic, more free because that is in the interest of the United States as I think we found out after September 11th.

QUESTION: Okay. But you also say that you're, you know, talk about your values of transparency and you'll get to the bottom of these particular instances. Why won't you talk about whether you're looking into these secret prisons? I mean, you say you don't want to talk about it --

MR. ERELI: Because I'm not in a position --

QUESTION: -- then you can't talk about --

MR. ERELI: -- I'm not in a position to talk to you.

QUESTION: Then how can you say this country, this government is all about transparency? What --

MR. ERELI: I didn't say we're all about transparency. I said we seek to deal with issues in a transparent way, but --

QUESTION: (Inaudible) in a transparent way --

MR. ERELI: Time out. Time out. Time out. Nope. You know, if -- I mean, there are things that go on that you just can't talk about, which are classified and I'm not in a position to talk about those sorts of things. You know, I think that again, in terms of openness and transparency and forthcomingness, all you have to do is read the public debate about this issue to understand that -- and I would question whether there's any country where you're going to see as much open and public debate about something like this than -- that there's any other country like that. So the fact is we've got a public debate, just because, you know -- but I can't from the position I'm in, comment on it, given the constraints that we operate in government.

QUESTION: So you're saying the existence or not of these prison camps is classified?

MR. ERELI: I'm saying that I'm not going to talk about it.

QUESTION: Well, who is?

QUESTION: Isn't the problem here is that the United States is seen as being hypocritical because you have come out many times and complained about other countries. For example, during the apartheid years in South Africa, the apartheid government was taking people in the dead of night, detaining them in secret detentions and -- that would be something that you would be strongly opposed to. If the United States is taking people in the dead of night, shipping them across to some third or fourth party would that -- are you getting these things --

MR. ERELI: Frankly, I don't -- (a) I dispute the comparison. I dispute the comparison.

QUESTION: I'm not comparing, but I'm just saying that --

MR. ERELI: Because number -- point number one,

QUESTION: -- as hypocritical.

MR. ERELI: Point number one, point number one is we're in a war on terror. We are -- we continue to be, as much as I think this gets -- although this seem to get lost in the discussion, we continue to be under attack. When you wage a war, I don't know any country that wages a war completely out in the open, its belief in and commitment to transparency not withstanding. So let's be clear about what we're dealing with here.

We're dealing with a war. We're dealing with those who are bent on attacking and killing our citizens. And we are going to take measures consistent with our values and principles to protect our citizens and be respectful of international norms. And that's the policy the President has laid out. Now, not every step along the way we are going to -- we're not going to conduct this war completely in the open, but we will do it, as the President has said, as the National Security Advisor has said, as numerous American officials have said, we will do it consistent with our values and principles and mindful of our international obligations.

QUESTION: Is the Secretary concerned that the reports have had an impact on US credibility when the United States speaks about a democracy?

MR. ERELI: Not that I'm aware of, no.

QUESTION: Can I just do one more on this? It's more specific. This is a case of Yemeni men. Amnesty International says that some of them were kept in secret detention centers, US secret detention centers. Subsequently, they went to -- they were sent to Yemen, they're jailed there. And Amnesty International today was calling for the US to push for their release and this is particularly because -- I think the leader of Yemen is coming to Washington this week.

MR. ERELI: Don't know anything about it.

QUESTION: Can you find out?

MR. ERELI: I'll see if we have anything to say about these two gentlemen. Do you have their names?

QUESTION: I can get --

MR. ERELI: Yeah, give us their names.

QUESTION: -- and certainly, I would have pronounced them badly on the microphone.

MR. ERELI: I'm not aware that it's an issue, but I'll check.

Meantime, Amnesty International said in a report "Secret detentions in the "war on terror": Imagine that one minute you are eating dinner with your family and the next you are hooded, handcuffed, and dragged away. Your family is not told where you were taken. After your initial interrogation, you are taken to a plane: it takes off, but no one tells you where itÕs going and when it lands you donÕt even know what country youÕre in. You are put in a cell, completely isolated, with no windows and only a bucket for a toilet. Artificial lights are on all the time and a constant low-level hum comes out of the loudspeakers. You cannot sleep and feel very anxious. The guards, dressed completely in black, communicate only with hand gestures. Interrogators insult you about the things most sacred to you and make you stand motionless for long periods of time. You feel like you are going mad and just want this to stop. And to make matters worse, you still havenÕt been told why you are there, nor are you allowed to speak to a lawyer or your family. No one knows where you are.

The report added: You may have to imagine such a situation, but someone like Muhammad al-Assad has actually lived through similar experiences. Enter into Muhammad al-AssadÕs world. He was ÒdisappearedÓ for almost 16 months and has recently reappeared in Yemen. In the US administrationÕs Òwar on terrorÓ, Muhammad al-Assad is just one of the countless many who have been held secretly, in incommunicado detention and subjected to torture or ill-treatment at the hands of US officials.

On November 2, The Washington Post reported that "The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement.

The Washington Post report said "The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents. The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions."

Previous Stories:
  Amnesty International: Guantanamo detainee hunger strikers critically ill   (9/28/2005)
  Eight Guantanamo detainees released or transferred   (7/21/2005)
  US Senate hearing on detainees; an accused person has no rights   (6/16/2005)

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