Seattle PI : Bush's prison revelations irks Europe

Bush's prison revelations irks Europe

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS | ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER | September 7, 2006

GENEVA -- President Bush's confirmation of secret CIA prisons re-ignited controversy Thursday - with European lawmakers demanding the exact locations and other critics saying the system tacitly approves torture.

A top European investigator accused the White House of hiding the truth, though Bush found some support in Australia.

The international Red Cross welcomed the transfer of high-level terror suspects to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying Thursday it planned to check on them "very soon" but reiterating its desire to visit all detainees in the U.S. war on terror wherever they may be held.

"We will very soon - in the coming days - carry out a visit and verify ourselves who was there, how many were there and who they are," said chief spokeswoman Antonella Notari.

"We do remain concerned and attentive about any persons still detained at the present time in secret locations or who might be detained incommunicado in the future," she said.

European lawmakers condemned the existence of secret prisons and demanded to know their locations.

"We cannot condone the existence of secret prisons," said Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who pulled his country's troops out of Iraq in 2004, said: "The fight against terrorism can only be done through democracy and respect for the law. It is not compatible with the existence of secret prisons."

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U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, visiting Zapatero in Madrid on Thursday, agreed.

"I cannot believe that there can be a trade between the effective fight against terrorism and protection of civil liberties," he said. "If as individuals we are asked to give up our freedom, our liberties, our human rights, as protection against terrorism, do we in the end have protection?"

Dick Marty, the Swiss senator who heads the Council of Europe's investigation into whether European governments collaborated in the secret prison program, said: "There is more, much more to be revealed."

"I have always been certain that these prisons existed, so I am not surprised," he told The Associated Press.

Marty said earlier this year that 14 European nations - from Ireland to Germany to Romania - colluded with U.S. intelligence in a "spider's web" of human rights abuses to help the CIA spirit terror suspects to illegal detention facilities. His claims triggered a wave of angry denials, including from the United States.

Marty said he thought the timing of Bush's speech was politically motivated. "It probably has to do with the fact that the elections are coming up in the United States," he said, referring to U.S. congressional elections in November.

Graham Watson, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, said Bush's revelation would "bring a new interest and momentum" to the work of the investigation.

"It has refused to be silenced by the blanket denials from governments and authorities that they were complicit in allowing illegal practices on their territory," Watson said. "If they were not aware, the matter is even more serious."

Bush got strong support from Australia, a staunch supporter of his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

"A great deal has been achieved through these kinds of programs," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Parliament, noting that information from one secret prison detainee led to the arrest of a key leader of Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

But much of the global response was critical.

Rights groups said Bush's acknowledgment of the secret prisons and justification of tough interrogation measures vindicated the worst fears that Washington had gone too far in the pursuit of its war on terror.

Robert Freer of Amnesty International said Bush seemed to be trying to justify "impunity legislation" that would allow the CIA to continue to operate the centers.

He noted Bush didn't rule out cruel, degrading and inhuman prisoner treatment, even as he proclaimed, "The United States does not torture."

Kenneth Roth, executive director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said it was possible the CIA could continue using practices that are deemed torture under international law, such as mock drownings.

Manfred Nowak, the U.N.'s top anti-torture expert, noted the new Defense Department field manual that spells out appropriate prisoner interrogation, does not extend to CIA operatives. The manual for the first time bans forced nakedness, hooding and other procedures that have been used in the war on terror.

Muslim politicians and activists also denounced U.S. policies.

Asma Jehangir, a senior U.N. rights expert from Pakistan, demanded Washington end the program.

"They have to admit that what they did was wrong," said Jehangir. "They cannot justify it in the name of terrorism and frightening people."

Desra Percaya, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Indonesia, said: "There has to be a respect for human rights and international law even in the context of fighting terrorism," and that Washington had violated both.

Moazzam Begg, a 38-year-old British citizen held captive in Afghanistan and Guantanamo before being freed in January, said he spoke with several detainees who described being held in secret prisons.

He said they used transport time, smells and sounds to guess where they were. Most said they were held in Egypt or Indonesia and he cited at least two detainees who described being tortured in secret detention.