New Evidence of DOD Cooperation with CIA Ghost Detention Program

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Secret Detention, Extraordinary Rendition, & Torture: New Evidence of DOD Cooperation with CIA Ghost Detention Program

by Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)


Rights Groups Release Documents Obtained in FOIA Case Relating to Secret Detention, Extraordinary Rendition, and Torture Program
New Evidence of DOD Cooperation with CIA Ghost Detention Program

CONTACT: [e-mail]

February 12, 2009, New York and Washington, DC—Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit confirm Department of Defense involvement in the CIA's ghost detention program, revealed three prominent human rights groups today. The groups—Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ)—today released documents obtained from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and U.S. Department of State (DOS), resulting from their lawsuit seeking the disclosure of government documents that relate to secret detention, extraordinary rendition, and torture. At a public press conference, the groups revealed that these documents confirm the existence of secret prisons at Bagram and in Iraq; affirm the DOD's cooperation with the CIA's ghost detention program; and show one case where the DOD sought to delay the release of Guantánamo prisoners who were scheduled to be sent home by a month and a half in order to avoid bad press.

"These newly released documents confirm our suspicion that the tentacles of the CIA's abusive program reached across agency lines," said Margaret Satterthwaite, Director of the NYU International Human Rights Clinic. "In fact, it is increasingly obvious that defense officials engaged in legal gymnastics to find ways to cooperate with the CIA's activities. A full accounting of all agencies must now take place to ensure that future abuses don't continue under a different guise."

While 928 of the 950 pages of documents from the Transportation Command of the DOD are reprinted news articles, there is one internal email dated February 17, 2006—relating to Guantánamo detainees scheduled for release—that is of note. It recommends "hold off on return flights for 45 days or so until things die down. Otherwise we are likely to have hero's welcomes awaiting the detainees when they arrive." The email also recommends transfer in a smaller, more discrete plane and has attached a reference to the United Nations (UN) report released around that time criticizing Guantánamo.

"It is astonishing that the government may have delayed releasing men from Guantánamo in order to avoid bad press," said CCR attorney Gitanjali Gutierrez, who represents many of the men held in Guantánamo and has made 30 trips to the base since 2004. "Proposing to hold men for a month and a half after they were deemed releasable is inexcusable. The Obama Administration should avoid repeating this injustice and release the innocent individuals with all due haste."

The 78 documents obtained from the DOS consist of 55 copies of press reports, transcripts of press briefings and public statements, or talking points for use with the press and public; seven public reports by NGOs, UN bodies, and the U.S. government; and 16 internal documents that disclose no new information.

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http://www.ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/rights-groups-release-documents-obtained-foia-case-relating-secret-detention

[mmonk]

1. So now we have two government agencies involved in illegality,

the state department and the DoD.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

5. At least

Certainly others knew.

[pleah]

2. K&R

Bookmarking.

[blindpig]

3. K&R n/t

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. how does it feel to be the last one standing....

Prison gates won't open up for me
On these hands and knees I'm crawlin'
Oh, I reach for you
Well I'm terrified of these four walls
These iron bars can't hold my soul in
All I need is you
Come please I'm callin'
all I scream for you
Hurry I'm fallin', I'm fallin'


Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
And say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth saving me

Heaven's gates won't open up for me
With these broken wings I'm fallin'
And all I see is you
These city walls ain't got no love for me
I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story
And all I scream for you
Come please I'm callin'
And all I need from you
Hurry I'm fallin', I'm fallin'



Hurry I'm fallin'

All I need is you
Come please I'm callin'
And all I scream for you
Hurry I'm fallin', I'm fallin', I'm fallin'



Show me what it’s like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I’ll show you what I can be

And say it for me
Say it to me
And I’ll leave this life behind me
Say it if it’s worth savin' me
Hurry I’m falling

And say it for me
Say it to me
And I’ll leave this life behind