Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Rumours of Secret US Prisoner Ships
From Agence France Presse, US suspected of keeping secret prisoners on warships: UN official:
The UN has learned of "very, very serious" allegations that the United States is secretly detaining terrorism suspects in various locations around the world, notably aboard prison ships, the UN's special rapporteur on terrorism [Manfred Nowak] said.
"There are very, very serious accusations that the United States is maintaining secret camps, notably on ships," the Austrian UN official told AFP, adding that the vessels were believed to be in the Indian Ocean region.
"They are only rumours, but they appear sufficiently well-based to merit an official inquiry," he added.
The use of prison ships would allow investigators to interrogate people secretly and in international waters out of the reach of US law, British security expert Francis Tusa said.
"This opens the door to very tough interrogations on key prisoners before it even has been revealed that they have been captured," said Tusa, an editor for the British magazine Jane's Intelligence Review.
Tusa said the Americans may also be using their island base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean as a site for prisoners.
