The Guardian article is based on a forthcoming report from an NGO called Reprieve. 's secret interrogation program", "Senate Intelligence Panel Seeks CIA Nominee's Withdrawal", "Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations", "Congress Seeks Justice Dept. likes, 174 loves, 691 comments, 1,8 . reggie white sarcoidosis. So this guy, Arcentales, and another guy they're on a ship. For over a month,Arcentales and two other Guatemalans, Quijije and Payan, remained chained to the deck of their floating prison. On December 28, 2006, the BBC reported that during 2003, a well-known CIA Gulfstream V aircraft implicated in extraordinary renditions, N379P, had on several occasions landed at the Polish airbase of Szymany. In a subsequent report, in April 2006, Amnesty International used flight records and other information to locate the black site in Eastern Europe or Central Asia. Torture Report", "16 absolutely outrageous abuses detailed in the CIA torture report", "Poland 'helped in CIA rendition', European court rules", "European Court Assails Poland Over Role in CIA 'Black Sites', "Lithuania and Romania complicit in CIA torture - European court", Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CIA_black_sites&oldid=1139564334. Secret Floating Prisons - Explained | We all know prisoners are kept Just when you think that youve heard the worst, this administration tops it. The reality is that when the Coast Guard has had to move people more quickly, they do. According to the article, the same aircraft landed in Guantanamo Bay on September 23, 2003, "having travelled from Kabul to Szymany (Poland), Mihail Koglniceanu (Romania) and Sal (Morocco)". The men were required to clean out the buckets themselves. 99% of cocaine in us was cia in the eighties. He said that he had heard from three U.S. intelligence sources that Diego Garcia was used as "a transit site where people were temporarily housed, let us say, and interrogated from time to time" and that "What I heard was more along the lines of using it as a transit location when perhaps other places were full or other places were deemed too dangerous or insecure, or unavailable at the moment". Reprieve, a human right's organization, claims there have been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006 and that the US may have used as many as 17 ships as "floating prisons" since 2001. The CIA failed to adequately evaluate the effectiveness of its enhanced interrogation techniques. Seth Freed Wessler reported this story for The Times. In Iraq, Abu Ghraib was disclosed as a black site, and in 2004 was the center of an extensive prisoner abuse scandal. Now, however, it seems to have gotten worse as an ad-hoc US detention system has recently been discovered floating in the Pacific Ocean in international waters as to exist outside the realm of the US justice system. Instead of realizing how entirely ineffective, barbaric, deadly, and insane the war on drugs has proven to be, the US government shows no signs of slowing despite public opinion on the matter rapidly shifting. The US government is holding hundreds of people without trial, shackled to the decks of Coast Guard boats for months, all to enforce the drug war. The Coast Guard makes the argument that these people are not formally under arrest until they get to the United States. US operating 'secret floating terror prisons' - Times of India ", "EU May Suspend Nations With Secret Prisons", "No Proof of Secret C.I.A. [142][143][144] Panetta informed his fellow employees that the CIA would only use interrogation techniques authorized in the US Army interrogation manual, and that any individuals taken into custody by the CIA would only be held briefly, for the time necessary to transfer them to the custody of authorities in their home countries, or the custody of another US agency. He had left home a year and a half . Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve's legal director, said: They choose ships to try to keep their misconduct as far as possible from the prying eyes of the media and lawyers. For the next 70 days, Mr. Arcentales and the other man he was detained with were held always chained by their ankle to the deck of a ship or to a cable running along one of these large Coast Guard or Navy ships for 70 days. 6. He was the head of Southern Command between 2012 and 2016 then retired. However, it was the revelations of The Washington Post, in a November 2, 2005, article, that would start the scandal. Very often, detainees are brought to port in one of these cutters, then placed in a hidden room in a helicopter hangar or in a room below deck and hidden there for the day while the Coast Guard cutter refuels or the Coast Guard crew get a bit of a break and then are brought back out to sea. The decision was made in Geneva following two days of hearings at which a 26-member U.S. delegation defended the practices.[17][18]. Lets see. And the Coast Guard says "our ships aren't equipped as detention centers. Black site. The CIA coordinated the release of classified information to the media, including inaccurate information concerning the effectiveness of the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques. [11], On September 6, 2006, Bush publicly admitted the existence of secret prisons[9] and announced that many of the detainees held there were being transferred to Guantanamo Bay.[12]. [30], The trial began in January 2010 and lasted 14 days, with the jury deliberating for three days before reaching a verdict. [120], In November 2005, El Pas reported that CIA planes had landed in the Canary Islands and in Palma de Mallorca. Alongside her is Phil Maguire OBE, who has worked in prisons for over 15 years and is the Chief Executive of the Prison Radio Association. You know, we stick to U.S. law and our international obligations." But now it's like a prison in the open ocean. ; . Give us the quick thumbnail sketch of this one guy, in particular, Jhonny Arcentales, and how he ended up there? [66][67], While the revelation was expected to cause considerable embarrassment for both governments, UK officials were expected to face considerable exposure since they had previously quelled public outcry over U.S. detainee abuse by falsely reassuring the public no U.S. detainment camps were housed on any UK bases or territories. [77] In September 2008, two anonymous Polish intelligence officers made the claims about facilities being located in Poland in the Polish daily newspaper Dziennik. US President George W. Bush acknowledged the existence of secret prisons operated by the CIA during a speech on September 6, 2006. CIA black sites - Wikipedia I want my country back and I want the top level people in the Bush administration on trial. For other uses, see, United Kingdom and British overseas territories, United Nations Convention Against Torture, "Detainee says China has secret jail in Dubai, holds Uyghurs", "For Complainers, A Stint In China's 'Black Jails', "Gay Men in Chechnya Tell of Black Sites Where They're Tortured, Some to Death", "Chechen police 'kidnap and torture gay men' - LGBT activists", "Persecution of LGBTI people in the Chechen Republic (Russian Federation)", "Russia: New Anti-Gay Crackdown in Chechnya", "Bush: Top terror suspects to face tribunals", "CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons", "Poland feels sting of betrayal over CIA 'black site', "Poland ex-spy boss 'charged over alleged CIA secret prison', "Polish Ex-Official Charged With Aiding the C.I.A. Satellite and other planetary prisons may soon become convenient places to rocket invisibles off to as this planet becomes ever more crowded. Surely there are no laws way up there. Over recent years, this amphibious assault ship has been converted into a floating secret prison, forming part of the CIA network of "black sites" used for so-called "enhanced interrogation . Reprieves research pointed to at least 17 US warships being used as secret CIA black sites. And yet it goes on. US accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships. The US Navy has anchored one of its secret prisons in Haitian waters Germany had issued warrants for 13 people suspected to be involved with the abduction but dropped them in September 2007. Floating Turtle If you travel towards the north from the west side of the Great Tree, you can find the Floating Turtle. In fact, the specifics of the network of black sites remains controversial. U.S. Coast Guard Operating Inhumane Floating Prisons Detainees are interrogated aboard the vessels and then rendered to other, often undisclosed, locations, it is claimed. Our subreddit is primarily for Coast Guard officials say they can do this because the drug smugglers aren't under arrest until they reach U.S. shores, but some of the worst cases are drawing criticism even from Coast Guard officials. A report by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, entitled "Enduring Freedom - Abuses by US Forces in Afghanistan", states that the CIA has operated in Afghanistan since September 2001;[97] maintaining a large facility in the Ariana Chowk neighborhood of Kabul and a detention and interrogation facility at the Bagram airbase. Someone would ask to be taken to the restroom so that we could try to reach the trash and take the food, Quijije said in testimony. Alternative & Objective News, Global Organized Corruption, Technology. So there are these delays that people in the Coast Guard Coast Guard officials I interviewed thought really are actually unreasonable, considering that theyre near an airport. This is according to the flight log of the aircraft obtained from Washington, D.C., by Village. Courts have generally bought the government's argument. [135] The preliminary report declared that it was "highly unlikely that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware" of the CIA kidnapping of a "hundred" persons on European territory and their subsequent rendition to countries where they may be tortured. The Coast Guard was conscripted as the agency empowered to seek out suspected smugglers and bring them to American courts, the Times reports. As we've made this decision to prosecute more and more people, these delays have grown longer and longer. Cardboard, have the actions of the Bush administration given us any reason to believe that this is not true? The argument by the Coast Guard and by federal prosecutors [is] that these logistical delays are legitimate, as its hard enough to get people back. Procedimientos. They describe that as a really terrible disgusting process. The UN considered evidence presented by the Moroccan government as well as by Amnesty International. [80] The allegations resulted in a parliamentary inquiry, and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait stated that she had "indirect suspicions" about a black site in her country. In its 26 December 2020 video statement SAM cited one of its reports citing that the Saudi and UAE forces subjected the Yemeni detainees to cruel forms of torture.[55][56][57], Mwatana for Human Rights reported on 11 April 2021 about the continued forceful detention of approximately 27 civilians at the Al Munawara Central Prison, Mukalla City, Yemen by UAE authorities. US President George W. Bush acknowledged the existence of secret prisons operated by the CIA during a speech on September 6, 2006. Reprieve lawyers represent people facing the death penalty, particularly in the USA, or when those facing execution are British nationals. The USS Bataan used as an illegal prison/jail/torture holding tank? Senator Ron Wyden (DOregon) said he was sending a letter to Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, asking him to instruct Hayden to drop the inquiry. Hayden said the CIA has detained fewer than 100 people at secret facilities abroad since 2002, and even fewer prisoners have been secretly transferred to or from foreign governments. [48] Additionally, Camp Bucca (near Umm Qasr) and Camp Cropper (near the Baghdad International Airport) were reported. [115], In an October 30, 2007, address to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Hayden defended the agency's interrogation methods, saying, "Our programs are as lawful as they are valuable." detention and torture or about hosting prisons. secret floating prisons. Asked a question about waterboarding, Hayden mentioned attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey, saying, "Judge Mukasey cannot nor can I answer your question in the abstract. From secret black site prisonsoperating in Chicagowith no due process, to midnight raids in which babies faces are blown off by police grenades, attempting to stop Americans from self-medicating has proven to be a disastrousfailure. secret floating prisons - Businessonlinecentre.com By 2005, the CIA had overwhelmingly outsourced operations related to the program. Rinoplastia; Blefaroplastia [128], In January 2012, Poland's Prosecutor General's office initiated investigative proceedings against Zbigniew Siemitkowski, the former Polish intelligence chief. Siddiqui's family maintains that she was abused at Bagram. The countries named were: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. US News: The US is operating 'floating prisons' to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an at. shares, Facebook Watch Videos from The Infographics Show: We all know prisoners are kept locked inside prison cells and monitored. However, the officer said it was unlikely either man knew if the prisoners were being tortured because the Poles had no control over the Americans' activities. A state prosecutor opened up an investigation concerning these landings which, according to Madrid, were made without official knowledge, thus being a breach of national sovereignty.[121][122][123]. That same report cited Spain, Turkey, Germany, and Cyprus as staging posts and the UK, Portugal, Ireland, and Greece as stop-off points for detainees being flown to black sites such as Camp Eagle. Days later, was picked up by the Coast Guard. Planning and building a new prison is a time consuming exercise. The European Parliament voted a resolution condemning member states which accepted or ignore the practice. I havent heard a thing since on this floating prison claim. But some of it may be going to other markets, to European markets, to Australian markets or elsewhere. They helped us stop a planned strike on a U.S. Marine camp in Djibouti, and to prevent a planned attack on the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, and to foil a plot to hijack passenger planes and to fly them into Heathrow Airport and London's Canary Wharf. June 27, 2014. The former riding stable outside of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius consists of long corridors leading to windowless and soundproof rooms where one could do whatever one wanted, said current Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas, who led a parliamentary investigation into the facility in 2010. As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content. Countries that held suspects on behalf of the U.S. include Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Libya, Lithuania, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Somalia, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zambia. On November 8, 2005, rights group Amnesty International provided the first comprehensive testimony from former inmates of the CIA black sites. Are there any floating prisons? [1][12] After denying the fact for years, Poland confirmed in 2014 that it has hosted black sites. However, in 2008, USA Today quoted an unnamed Romanian official who claimed that the military portion of the airport contained three buildings which were strictly off-limits to Romanian officials but were frequented by US agents. Our free link-sharing technology tools are useful for schools and parents to give a children friendly YouTube experience. 7. It is investigated by the Canadian authorities, as it would have been flying from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, via Keflavk in Iceland before going to Turkey. [45] Some Guantanamo Bay detainees report being tortured in a prison they called "the dark prison", also near Kabul. [9][10] A claim that the black sites existed was made by The Washington Post in November 2005 and before this by human rights NGOs. The argument by the Coast Guard and by federal prosecutors that these logistical delays are legitimate, as it's hard enough to get people back. He really didn't know all that much about what he was doing. Top Searches. Two of the Italians were also convicted in person. The report alleges that at least eight Thai senior officials knew of the secret site. [20] On September 6, 2006, Bush publicly admitted the existence of the secret prisons[9] and that many of the detainees held there were being transferred to Guantanamo Bay. Pentagon maintains secret floating prisons? - CounterVortex 10 Secret Prisons Governments Are Hiding - YouTube It is. Danner also provided excerpts of the ICRC report characterizing procedures used at the black sites, dubbed "an alternative set of procedures" by President Bush, and discussed whether they fit the definition of torture.[14]. [98], A story by reporter Dana Priest published in The Washington Post of November 2, 2005, reported: "The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important alleged al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement. The Coast Guard has gotten away with this inhumane and horrific practice for years by claiming that logistics make it hard to get these people back. Governments are notorious for their secrets, and prisons are no exception to this. U.S. Coast Guard operating secret floating prisons in Pacific Ocean Since then, there have been more and more people leaving. [12], In December 2002, The Washington Post reported that "the capture of al Qaeda leaders Ramzi bin al-Shibh in Pakistan, Omar al-Faruq in Indonesia, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in Kuwait and Muhammad al Darbi in Yemen were all partly the result of information gained during interrogations." Presenter Paula Harriott is Head of Prisoner Engagement for the Prison Reform Trust, having spent time behind bars. In 2015, The Intercept revealed aerial shots of Camp Lemonnier showing how the base, which is a crucial takeoff point for Reaper and Predator drones, has been steadily expanding. From secret black site prisonsoperating in Chicagowith no due process, to midnight raids in which babies faces are blown off by police grenades, attempting to stop Americans from self-medicating has proven to be a disastrous failure. In the case ofArcentales, the cocaine made it back to the states 44 days before he did. Jhonny Arcentales, a fisherman who was caught smuggling cocaine, lost 20 pounds during almost 70 days of floating confinement, while Jair Guevara Payan lost 50. One judge refused to dismiss a detainees indictment due to outrageous government conduct, though said he was troubled by accounts of inadequate nutrition, weight loss, lack of privacy for toilet use and lack of sufficient protection from the elements., This is not to say that such treatment of detainees is condoned by this court, said the judge. The US Coast Guard is operating floating prisons in the Pacific Ocean, outside US legal protections!!! Dear god..we are the evil empire. In April 2009, CIA director Leon Panetta announced that the "CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites", in a letter to staff and that "[r]emaining sites would be decommissioned". 12/07/22: 3: U.S. Coast Guard operating secret floating prisons in Pacific Ocean: 05/31/18: 4: Conspiracy my ass!!! But the instruction concerned only N50BH, which was a Gulfstream III, which would have landed at Le Bourget on July 20, 2005, coming from Oslo, Norway. On November 4, 2009, an Italian judge convicted (in absentia) 23 of the Americans, including a U.S. Air Force (USAF) colonel. But the Coast Guard has no clear rules about how long they can hold people. These are 10 Secret Prisons The Government Are Hiding.Click to Subscribe. "[119], Nonetheless, the CIA's alleged programme prompted several official investigations in Europe into the existence of such secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers involving Council of Europe member states. [3] On March 14, 2004, The Guardian reported that three British citizens were held captive in a secret section (Camp Echo) of the Guantnamo Bay complex. 200 meter long iceburg floating just off the coast: 03/31/05: 2: Is Obama Bin Laden body Floating in the Ocean? An eye-opening report from The New York Times has exposed the existence of multiple "floating Guantanamos" operated by the U.S. Coast Guard throughout the Pacific Ocean. The Coast Guard adds that it shackles detainees and conceals them while in port for their own safety and the safety of the crew. US accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships We all know prisoners are kept locked inside prison cells and monitored 24/7, but have you ever heard of a floating prison? 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's detention and interrogation program would be provided more information by The New York Times than by the Department of Justice", Rockefeller's letter read in part. I need to understand the totality of the circumstances in which this question is being posed before I can give you an answer. He was also sentenced to a decade in U.S. federal prison. On our Doge's Palace "Prisons and Tyranny" tour, you'll discover a darker side of Venice. Among those ships was the USS Ashland, a Whidbey Islandclass dock landing ship that weighs 16,000 tons and measures 186 meters (610 ft) in length.