Why Does CIA Send Prisoners To Other Nations? (H Thomas)

[struggle4progress]

Those Who Know Of 'Extraordinary Rendition' Stay Silent
Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist

POSTED: 5:41 pm EDT April 29, 2005

<snip> Who knows how many others languish in foreign prisons to be severely mistreated at the behest of the CIA? The Washington Post quoted unnamed defense and intelligence officials who said in recent interviews that they expect some detainees to be held for life, without trial.

They are known as "ghost detainees" -- people who have disappeared, with no public record and no government acknowledgement of their confinement, and thus are beyond the reach of legal counsel or the Red Cross.

The White House has maintained tight restrictions on any information regarding the CIA-held prisoners, where they are and how they are being interrogated. <snip>

Asked at a news conference Thursday about the practice of sending prisoners and detainees to other countries, President George W. Bush insisted that "we operate within the law and we send people to countries where (foreign officials) say they are not going to torture the people." <snip>

http://www.thewgalchannel.com/helenthomas/4433066/detail.html