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Lithuania parliamentary committee confirms secret CIA prisons

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Lithuanian Parliament National Security Committee reported Tuesday that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) established two secret prisons for al Qaeda suspects in the Baltic country. Lawmakers demanded the investigation in October after ABC News reported in August that former CIA officials said that Lithuania provided the CIA with facilities for a secret prison for high value al Qaeda suspects in order to improve relations with the US. The parliamentary committee concluded that the Lithuanian State Security Department provided the CIA with two secret facilities, but it is unclear whether either facility was used to interrogate detainees. The committee uncovered no evidence that former president Valdus Adamkus and former prime minister Algirdas Brazauskas, who were both in office during the specified time period, were told about the secret detention centers. The committee called for prosecutors to launch an immediate investigation into the State Security Department's actions. On his third day in office last January, US President Barack Obama ordered the closure of all CIA secret prisons. The European Parliament voted in February 2007 to approve a report that condemned member states for cooperating with the CIA in operating secret prisons. In January 2007, the UK admitted knowledge of the CIA prison network, and then-president George W. Bush publicly acknowledged in September 2006 that these types of facilities existed. In June 2006, the Council of Europe released a report that 14 European countries collaborated with the CIA by taking an active or passive role in a "global spider's web" of secret prisons and rendition flights. The existence of CIA prisons in Europe was first reported in November 2005.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 22, 2009 (boomark / email).