CIA Copy of Washington Post Article: The CIA's Prisoners

Back To Table Of Contents
UNCLASSIFIED
31. The CIA's Prisoners
Washington Post, 15 July 2004, Page A20
FOR DECADES the United States led the denunciation of despots whose enemies "disappear" —
vanish into official custody, with no accounting for their whereabouts or treatment, no notification of
their families and sometimes, no acknowledgement that they are being held. Now that same term is
being applied to prisoners held by the Bush administration in the war on terrorism. According to the
International Red Cross, a number of people apparently in U.S. custody are unaccounted for. Most
are believed to be held by the CIA in secret facilities outside the United States, Contrary to the
Geneva Conventions, the detainees have never been visited by the Red Cross; contrary to U.S. and
international law, some reportedly have been subjected to interrogation techniques that most legal
authorities regard as torture. According to the independent group Human Rights Watch, this
exceptional practice is "perhaps unprecedented in U.S. history." Like the Pentagon's mishandling of
Iraqi detainees, it cries out for congressional review and reform.
At leas a dozen of the CIA detainees are senior figures in the al Qaeda organization, such as Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed, an alleged organizer of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Abu Zubaida, the
_group's operations ,chief-Few-question-their-status as dangerous.enemy combatants or the need-to - -
interrogate them about al Qaeda's networks and plans for attacks -- and no one suggests that they
have been murdered, like many of the "disappeared" in other countries, But some of these men have
been held incommunicado since before April 2002, or long past the time when urgent questioning or
strict seclusion might have been necessary, Yet still the administration refuses to reveal where they
are or allow visits by the Red Cross -- something the United States often has advocated for prisoners
elsewhere in the world, including other terrorists. The White House reportedly has exempted from the
reviews that have been granted to detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison. And it has
not disclosed the interrogation techniques approved for use by the CIA, though it has released those
for Guantanamo.
What is known, mostly through leaks to the media, is that several of the CIA's detainees probably
have been tortured — and that a controversial Justice Department opinion defending such abuse was
written after the fact to justify the activity. ACcording to reports in The Post, pain medication for Abu
Zubaida, who suffered from a gunshot wound in the groin, was manipulated to obtain his cooperation,
while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was subjected to "water boarding," which causes the sensation of
drowning. Notwithstanding the Justice Department opinion, parts of which recently were repudiated b n
the White House, U.S. personnel responsible for such treatment may be guilty of violating the
international Convention Against Torture and U.S. laws related to It.
Nor has the CIA's illegal behavior been limited to senior al Qaeda militants. The agency has been
responsible for interrogating suspects in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and it is believed to have held a
number in secret detention facilities. According to official reports, the identities of several in Iraq were
deliberately concealed from the Red Cross, a violation of the Geneva Conventions, At least two
detainees have died while being interrogated byCIA personnel. One CIA contractor has been
charged with assault by the Justice Department in the case of one of the deaths, and at least two
other cases are reportedly under investigation, But no higher-ranking CIA officials have been held
accountable for the abuses or the decisions that led to them, even though it is now known that former
CIA director George J, Tenet was directly involved in the "ghost detainee" cases in Iraq.
IV\
005950513
MediA Highlights - The CIA's Prisotlers
The Pentagon and Congress are investigating the Army's handling of foreign detainees; though they
are slow and inadequate, these probes contrast with the almost complete absence of scrutiny of the
CIA's activity. This failure of oversight must be corrected. Though the United States is at war, it canno
be acceptable to hold enemy combatants indefinitely in secret prisons, with no external review or
humanitarian oversight of any kind, Congress, or the courts, must step in to correct what appears to
be a systematic violation of international law -- and fundamental American values,
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
UNCLASSIFIED
Back To Table Of Contents r