Acknowledging an "extraordinary lapse", US officials today said that the Defence Department had ordered detention of a man suspected of being a senior Iraqi terrorist but did not list him on the prison's rolls.
This prisoner, said to be a high-ranking member of Ansar-al-Islam, a group the US has linked to the al-Qaeda, and other "ghost detainees" were hidden largely to prevent the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from monitoring their treatment and conditions, a media report said quoting senior Pentagon and intelligence officials.
The prisoner, who has not been named, is still languishing at Camp Cropper on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport, the New York Times reported.
The Hindu article
This prisoner, said to be a high-ranking member of Ansar-al-Islam, a group the US has linked to the al-Qaeda, and other "ghost detainees" were hidden largely to prevent the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from monitoring their treatment and conditions, a media report said quoting senior Pentagon and intelligence officials.
The prisoner, who has not been named, is still languishing at Camp Cropper on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport, the New York Times reported.
What do we know about Camp Cropper, aside from the fact that both the Red Cross and Amnesty International were denied access?
He was the first person said to have been kept off the books since last November at the orders of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and then Director of Central Intelligence Agency George Tenet.
The detainee, the paper said, was described by the intelligence officials as someone "who was actively planning operations specifically targeting US forces and interests both inside and outside of Iraq."
Explaining the lapse, a senior intelligence official said: "Once he was placed in military custody, people lost track of him. The normal review processes that would keep track of him didn't."
Pentagon and intelligence officials told the paper that the decision to hold the detainee without registering him - at least initially - was in keeping with the administration's legal opinion about the status of those viewed as an active threat in wartime.
The detainee, the paper said, was described by the intelligence officials as someone "who was actively planning operations specifically targeting US forces and interests both inside and outside of Iraq."
Explaining the lapse, a senior intelligence official said: "Once he was placed in military custody, people lost track of him. The normal review processes that would keep track of him didn't."
Pentagon and intelligence officials told the paper that the decision to hold the detainee without registering him - at least initially - was in keeping with the administration's legal opinion about the status of those viewed as an active threat in wartime.
Oh, sure! Somebody viewed as a high active threat, and they "lost track of him".
These people remind me of a federal parolee (from about 4 prisons over the course of his life) I knew years ago who said the only rule for convicts in testimony is "deny, deny, deny". Even, he said, if they catch you red-handed.
From another source:
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Reuters the United States was now moving to end the shadowy status of the man, who was not identified, and allow access to him by the ICRC.
Both assigning a prisoner number and notifying the Red Cross are required under the Geneva Conventions and other international humanitarian laws.
"I will acknowledge that the ICRC should have been notified about this prisoner earlier," Whitman said. "He will be assigned an identification number and, if appropriate, moved into the general prison population."
Reuters article
Both assigning a prisoner number and notifying the Red Cross are required under the Geneva Conventions and other international humanitarian laws.
"I will acknowledge that the ICRC should have been notified about this prisoner earlier," Whitman said. "He will be assigned an identification number and, if appropriate, moved into the general prison population."
This wasn't the only 'ghost detainee', in case anyone is still delusional about how the U.S. conducts war.
"The director of central intelligence (Tenet) wanted him held without notification while the CIA worked to determine his value," Whitman said.
The man has been held at Camp Cropper, a high-security facility near Baghdad Airport, and has apparently been lost in the system in recent months, according to other U.S. officials, who asked not to be identified.
..."He has been treated humanely," Whitman told Reuters.
Although the United States says that all prisoners in Iraq are treated humanely and strictly under rules of war established by the Red Cross, the Times said the prisoner and other so-called "ghost detainees" were hidden largely to prevent the ICRC from monitoring their treatment and conditions.
The man has been held at Camp Cropper, a high-security facility near Baghdad Airport, and has apparently been lost in the system in recent months, according to other U.S. officials, who asked not to be identified.
..."He has been treated humanely," Whitman told Reuters.
Although the United States says that all prisoners in Iraq are treated humanely and strictly under rules of war established by the Red Cross, the Times said the prisoner and other so-called "ghost detainees" were hidden largely to prevent the ICRC from monitoring their treatment and conditions.
Why else? And, if he's been "lost in the system", then how does Whitman know how he's been treated?
Looks like they might try to lay this one onto Tenet. When he goes, is he going to be loaded with all the blame - both for 9/11 intelligence failures and the Abu Ghraib illegalities? Maybe they can even pin the Plame leak on him. Trifecta!
In March, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, the U.S. Army officer who investigated abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, criticized the practice of allowing ghost detainees as "deceptive, contrary to Army doctrine, and in violation of international law."
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated. There may be some delay before your comment is published. It all depends on how much time M has in the day. But please comment!