Terror suspects ‘tortured in secret CIA jails’

SECRET jails where terror suspects were held naked and in solitary confinement for months were operated by the CIA in Romania and Poland, with the complete agreement of both countries presidents.

The details of the programme for dealing with what the CIA calls high value detainees are revealed for the first time in a 74-page report prepared by a team led by Swiss lawyer and senator Dick Marty for the Council of Europe.

It says that not even war authorises the conduct that the US and the countries that have colluded in the so-called rendition and holding of terror suspects as they are prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.

It accuses the US of a kind of legal apartheid and exaggerated sense of superiority by carrying out acts that would not be allowed in the US under its own laws, including setting up black sites to hold suspects.

But despite repeated requests and growing evidence governments — including Germany, Italy, and Macedonia — have refused to comply with their obligations as members of the Council of Europe and investigate their involvement with the illegal operations.

In his report, Mr Marty said some governments obstruct the truth and some, especially Germany and Italy, invoke state secrets to avoid having to explain to their parliaments.

“They use the same excuses as the Russian Federation has for its crackdown on scientists, journalists and lawyers who have been prosecuted and sentenced for alleged acts of espionage.”

Drawing on cross-referenced information and evidence from more than 30 current and previous members of US and European intelligence, the report explains that the CIA set up the black sites because Guantanamo “was a mess with inmates interrogated by FBI and military who did not know who they were talking to”. The Bush administration set up a new type of international co-operation, building on NATO’s agreement to invoke Article 5 — which promises support for any member attacked. However, it extended the meaning of this considerably and had the CIA operate as a kind of super military-civilian agency, getting permissions from as many countries as possible to allow CIA agents to collaborate directly with their military officials.

They brokered agreements with both the Polish and Romanian governments to set up secret detention facilities guaranteeing security and secrecy.

It is unclear how many were held in the prisons but they included the 14 who were transferred to Guantanamo acknowledged by US President George Bush last September.