EU to look into 'secret US jails'

The European Union has said it will examine reports that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) set up secret jails for terror suspects. A US newspaper said such prisons were set up in eight countries - some of them unnamed Eastern European states.





The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it wants access to all foreign terror suspects held by the US.

Chief spokeswoman Antonella Notari said it was concerned about the fate of an unknown number of people captured as part of the Bush administration's war on terror and allegedly held at undisclosed places of detention.

The centres - known as "black sites" - were set up in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the US in 2001, says the Washington Post.

Those with close links to the intelligence agencies say the US government sees a compelling case for keeping suspected al-Qaeda operatives incarcerated secretly on foreign soil.

That way the suspects are not able to contest their detention in US courts and can be interrogated over a long period, they say.

EU spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing said that any such prisons would probably violate EU human rights laws.

"We have seen the reports and now we need to look into the issue and make contact with the appropriate authorities," he said.

"Experts from our Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security will make contact with those authorities."

According to the Washington Post, about 30 detainees, considered major terrorism suspects, were held by the CIA in the "black sites".

About 70 others have been delivered to intelligence services in countries like Egypt, Jordan and Morocco - some via the "black sites" - in a process known as "rendition" which was already public knowledge.

US-based Human Rights Watch has said that a study of international air flight data, covering the summer of 2003, appears to point to a location in Romania and a former military airport in north-east Poland.

The claims have prompted a flurry of denials.

The question i ask is how many countries and major groups are NOT investigating the US right now , Italy , France , Spain , the EU , the UN , Bharain , Scotish Police even the American people themselves seemed to have picked up the scent .. the list goes on and on

It is like watching people leaving the scene of a fire and the whole world keeps finding embers everywhere they look

But dont anybody dare cry arson !

source : BBC