Human Rights Maps (96): US Secret Detention Facilities

The current US Administration, like the previous one although somewhat less enthusiastically, believes that the War on Terror necessitates certain restrictions on human rights. The Bush Administration, in order to respond effectively to what it considered to be the existential threat of Islamic terrorism, claimed that it should be able to torture terror suspects and start preemptive wars. The Obama administration continues the Bush policies of

• targeted killings with drone attacks (akin to extrajudicial executions in certain cases, and a risk to the lives of innocent bystanders)
• suspensions of freedom of information rights
• abuse of arrest powers, suspension of habeas corpus rights, detention without trial and even secret detention
• invasions of the privacy of travelers and others (including wiretapping).

It’s not clear what is currently going on with renditions and secret detention. Here’s a map of secret detention facilities operated by the US during the Bush Administration:

Map of US secret detention facilities, based on information provided by a recent UN Human Rights Council report. (c) Amnesty International. Produced by AAAS.

(source)

While the U.S. has generally refused to disclose the locations of these facilities, the specifics have slowly leaked out. There’s evidence confirming CIA “black sites” in 20 locations around the world where “high value detainees” have been “rendered” and probably subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques“. There’s a map on the “rendition flows” here.

More on the war on terror. More human rights maps.

Related Articles

• UN Report Documents Secret Detention Practices by U.S., Other Countries (seminal.firedoglake.com)
• Exposed: CIA’s ‘game’ to hide terror detainees (msnbc.msn.com)
• New Evidence About Prisoners Held in Secret C.I.A. Prisons in Poland and Romania (littlealexinwonderland.wordpress.com)
• The secret detainee transfer (philly.com)
• AP Exclusive: CIA whisked detainees from Gitmo (seattletimes.nwsource.com)