Friday, December 02, 2005

Starting to close in.

Last month the Washington Post revealed that the CIA has been detaining 'suspected terrorist' prisoners captured in Iraq and Afghanistan not only without due process, but at secret detention facilities in eastern Europe where the prisoners have been tortured.

Of course, every country in Eastern Europe denied being the host of such camps, especially after the European Union pledged to enact economic and other sanctions against any country found to have hosted one.

So, which country or countries is it? Well, the Guardian newspaper checked flight logs (here reported via Common Dreams.

It turns out that while the largest number of CIA flights occurred to Britain and Germany, countries which have not been accused (nor is there any reason to suspect) of hosting the camps,

The logs also showed regular trips to eastern Europe, including 15 stops in Prague.

"Only one visit is recorded to the Szymany airbase in northeast Poland, which has been identified as the alleged site of a secret CIA jail," The Guardian reported.


Romania has also been cited.

I hope in particular that the Szymany allegation does not turn out to be true-- it would be bizarrely unfitting to open a torture camp in a country which was the home to Auschwitz and then to more KGB interrogation centers than any other in eastern Europe.

But whoever it is, the noose is starting to close, and it won't be long before we find out for sure which eastern European countries.

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