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April 10, 2007
US Involvement in Secret Interrogations in Africa
From The Guardian
Ethiopia Secret Prisons Under Scrutiny
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Ethiopia was under pressure Thursday to release details on detainees from 19 countries held at secret prisons in the country where U.S. agents have carried out interrogations in the hunt for al-Qaida in the Horn of Africa.
Canada, Eritrea and Sweden were lobbying for information about their citizens. Human rights groups say hundreds of prisoners, including women and children, have been transferred secretly and illegally to the prisons in Ethiopia. An investigation by The Associated Press found that CIA and FBI agents have been interrogating the detainees.
Officials from Ethiopia were not immediately available for comment, but in the past have refused to acknowledge the existence of the prisons.
Ethiopia has a long history of human rights abuses. In recent years, it has also been a key U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida, which has been trying to sink roots among Muslims in the Horn of Africa.
The full article can be read here
Posted by andrew on April 10, 2007 10:53 AM in the category Rendition
Comments
Given a choice between detention by Iran or detention and interrogation by the CIA in Ethiopia, I wonder what most people would choose. I personally would opt for Iran. The "torture" our Sailors endured doesn't sound nearly as bad as waterboarding for example, which effectively amounts to a mock execution (illegal under international law).
Posted by: ChoamNomsky ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 10, 2007 11:20 PM
Given a choice between detention in Iraq or by the CIA in Ethiopia, I wonder which people would choose. Personally I would opt for Iran. The "torture" our sailors were subjected to doesn't sound nearly as bad as water-boarding. Waterboarding, aside from being a very unpleasant torture in itself, effectively amounts to a mock execution which is illegal under international law.
I wonder what kind of people they find who are prepared to do these kinds of waterboarding interrogations. I wonder how many of them will go on to be Congressmen or Senators in 20 years time.
Posted by: ChoamNomsky at April 10, 2007 11:28 PM
"I wonder what kind of people they find who are prepared to do these kinds of waterboarding interrogations. I wonder how many of them will go on to be Congressmen or Senators in 20 years time."
Choam,
In answer to your question:
I suggest you keep an eye on the right wing christians. You can often identify them as they place "old glory" stickers on their cars, and send their kids to "Jesus Camp".
Posted by: NightWatch at April 11, 2007 1:56 AM
I think that's probably right. I have just finished "The Last Mughal" by William Dalrymple. He details how it was the evangelical christians who chiefly committed and justified the massive reprisal atrocities after the Indian Mutiny.
Posted by: Craig at April 11, 2007 8:45 AM
Well, certainly Christians are not above doing some rather bad things. You don't have to look farther than the Israeli-backed Christian militia in the Lebanon. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre
But I was thinking more about personality types. People who believe they are in the right so fanatically that they are able to mentally justify torture. It's easy for politicians to do it since it's out of sight and out of mind. However, if they saw it first hand they would quickly change their minds (I hope).
Posted by: ChoamNomsky at April 11, 2007 3:58 PM
'Given a choice between detention in Iraq or by the CIA in Ethiopia, I wonder which people would choose. Personally I would opt for Iran. The "torture" our sailors were subjected to doesn't sound nearly as bad as water-boarding.'
No - but Zahra Kazemi didn't get off lightly ...
Posted by: NickW at April 12, 2007 5:11 PM
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