Investigator: 'High-Value Targets' Imprisoned by High-Level 'Cover-up'

June 08, 2007 6:09 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

The CIA's secret prisons for the U.S. "high-value detainee" program existed because of the "secrecy, cover-up and dishonesty" of high-level European officials, Swiss Sen. Dick Marty said today.

"We have sufficient grounds to declare that the highest state authorities were aware of the CIA's illegal activities on their territories," Marty, who led the Council of Europe's investigation into the CIA's rendition program, said in the 72-page report .

Thirty current and former CIA and European intelligence officers provided overwhelming proof that the Szymany airport in Poland and the Air Force Base at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airfield in Romania served as the two locations for the CIA secret prisons, according to the report.

The investigators found that the CIA planes out of Afghanistan would file phony flight plans as if they were heading to Glasgow, Scotland.  But over Poland, the planes would veer off, something the investigators discovered by matching the tail numbers of the CIA planes with local flight records.

As first reported by ABC News in December 2005, "high-value detainees," including al Qaeda commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who investigators say was one of the most prominent inmates at the Szymany facility, were held in these secret facilities and subjected to the harshest interrogation techniques in the CIA's arsenal, the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" authorized for use by about 14 CIA officers.

"It is an amazing amount of human rights abuses that have been taken place with the knowledge of huge numbers of people for long years," said Veronica Szente Goldstone of Human Rights Watch, "and the truth has to come out."

Today's report came on the same day that President Bush met with Poland's new president, Lech Kaczynzki.  Neither man mentioned the report, and Polish officials dismissed it as pure political fiction.

The spokesman for Romania's Defense Ministry flatly denied the report's findings. "This is nonsense," Lt. Col. Liviu Flutur said.  "We have no knowledge of this."

The report also concluded the U.S. put heavy pressure on both Poland and Romania, who "were economically vulnerable" and dependent on American support "for their strategic development," to house the secret CIA prisons.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited the Romanian air base where the prison had been set up in 2004.  The report also says there was a quid pro quo: the U.S. promised to help Romania get into NATO as part of a secret agreement.

Like Poland and Romania, the CIA dismissed the report finding the spy agency committed "a whole series of illegal acts," but stopped short of specifically denying the report's central allegations.

"The CIA's counterterror operations have been lawful, effective, closely reviewed and of benefit to many people -- including Europeans -- in disrupting plots and saving lives," the CIA spokesperson said in a statement to the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The prisons were closed one-and-a-half years ago when the existence of the operations became known. Most of their inmates are now imprisoned at Guantanamo Base, Cuba.

June 8, 2007 in CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (48)

CIA Blasts European Report on Secret Prisons

June 08, 2007 1:00 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

Labeling it "biased and distorted," a spokesperson for the CIA dismissed a European Parliament report finding the spy agency committed "a whole series of illegal acts" by abducting individuals and using torture to interrogate them at secret prisons in Romania and Poland.

"The CIA's counterterror operations have been lawful, effective, closely reviewed and of benefit to many people -- including Europeans -- in disrupting plots and saving lives," the CIA spokesperson said in a statement to the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The 72-page report was released today by a committee of the Council of Europe.

It said more than 30 current and former intelligence officers in the United States, Poland and Romania confirmed the existence of the secret prisons, confirming a December 2005 report on ABCNews.com.

The report said its evidence included flight data, documenting at least 10 flights from Afghanistan to an airfield at Szymany, Poland, between 2002 and 2005.

As ABCNews.com reported, the two prisons were closed at the end of 2005 as the existence of the operations became known. Suspected "high-value targets" were transferred to another facility in northern Africa.   

The committee said the U.S. chose to place its secret prisons in Poland and Romania because the two countries "were economically vulnerable" and dependent on American support "for their strategic development."

The committee said it found the President of Poland had direct knowledge of the CIA operation. "We have sufficient grounds to declare that the highest state authorities were aware of the CIA's illegal activities on their territories," said the report's author, Dick Marty, from Switzerland.

The spokesman for the Romania's Defense Ministry flatly denied the report's allegations.  "This is nonsense," Lt. Col. Liviu Flutur said.  "We have no knowledge of this."

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June 8, 2007 in CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (32)

Luxurious Lifestyles Lead to CIA Arrest Warrants in Germany

January 31, 2007 12:37 PM

Rhonda Schwartz, Maddy Sauer & Hoda Osman Report:

Receipts for luxurious five-star resorts, fine dining and spa treatments on the vacation island of Majorca ultimately led to the arrest warrants issued today in Germany for 13 suspected CIA agents who prosecutors say flew al Qaeda suspects to secret CIA prisons.

The suspected CIA agents, whose names and nationalities were not revealed by German prosecutors, were identified based on a list put together with the help of Spanish authorities who checked flight records and hotel registries.

Journalist Stephen Grey documented the agents' visits to Spain in his book "Ghost Plane." Grey reports that in addition to the five-star resorts, the flight crew stocked their plane with fine wine, crystal and shrimp cocktails, all at the expense of the U.S. government.

"Three bottles of fine Spanish wine, two of Pesquera and an Alion, along with five crystal glasses" on one trip, according to receipts and interviews with former pilots obtained by Grey.

Documentation of the agents' visits to Spain were passed along to German prosecutors in the course of their investigation into the kidnapping of a German citizen, Khaled el-Masri (pictured).

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Masri, who is of Lebanese decent, says in December 2003 he attempted to go to Macedonia for vacation. While trying to enter the country, he says, he was arrested and put on a CIA plane.

After being held in a hotel room for 23 days, Masri was allegedly moved to the "Salt Pit" in Afghanistan where, he says, he was stripped, beaten and abused by CIA agents for months.

Once the CIA realized it was a case of mistaken identity, they flew him back to Europe and dumped him on a path on top of a hill in Albania without charging him with any crime, says Masri.

The 13 suspects are alleged to have been on board the CIA plane that took Masri to Afghanistan.

The statement issued by the German prosecutor today said the investigation concludes the suspects used false names to conceal their identities as CIA agents. German authorities are now believed to have the code names the agents allegedly used, and their investigation is now focusing on finding the agents' real identities.

The arrest warrants are not valid in the U.S., but the suspects could be arrested if they were to travel to Europe. Grey says that besides preventing these agents from working abroad, these warrants are a very significant political move.

"These are very serious and respected lawyers declaring that a CIA program authorized by the president is an illegal criminal action," said Grey.

"Germany is one of our closest allies in the war on terror, and now they are putting pressure on the U.S. to explain and justify the kidnapping," Grey added.

Masri's case was one of the first to draw attention to the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, in which prisoners are flown to outside countries and technically turned over to foreign governments for interrogation.

Last year, he attempted to file a lawsuit in the U.S., but it was dismissed after the government argued it would reveal information vital to national security and the war on terror. Masri's lawyers have appealed that ruling.

January 31, 2007 in CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Strong Evidence Against Poland Despite Official Denials of Secret Prisons

November 29, 2006 11:11 AM

Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer Report:

There is strong evidence that a secret CIA prison was set up in Poland and that airport officials accepted thousands of dollars in cash for landing fees for CIA planes, according to the European Parliament's draft report on extraordinary rendition and secret prisons.

Poland has long denied any involvement. In an interview with ABC News last year, the Polish Defense Minister denied the existence of any secret prison in his country.

"The President of Poland has said that there is no truth to these reports," said Radoslaw Sikorski.

Yet the EU investigators conclude that in light of the evidence they found, "a temporary secret detention facility may have been located at the intelligence training centre at Stare Kiejkuty."

The EU committee says they found evidence that on some occasions the CIA Gulfstream jets did not have to clear customs and that "landing fees were paid in cash and overpriced -- usually between EUR 2000 and EUR 4000 [$2,632 and $5,265]."

The report also cites interviews with airport employees who said that vehicles would wait for the arrivals of the planes, and no Polish civilian or military staff were permitted to approach the planes. One employee reported following one of the vehicles and seeing it head towards the intelligence training center.

"This is reasonable grounds for thinking there really was a prison in Poland where the CIA held suspects," said Stephen Grey, a British journalist and author of "Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program."

"The suspicion is reasonable based on their behavior and their attempts to at a cover-up," said Grey.

The committee also strongly condemns the lack of cooperation by the Polish government in their investigation.

"There were contradictory statements and confusion about flight logs for the above-mentioned CIA flights, which were first said not to have been retained, then said to have been faxed and destroyed and finally said to have been saved in an unspecified place," says the report.

Romania, which had also previously denied the CIA flew there, was found to have been the location for about 21 stopovers.

November 29, 2006 in CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (31)

1,245 Secret CIA Flights Revealed by European Parliament

November 28, 2006 4:56 PM

Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer Report:

The CIA flew 1,245 secret flights into European airspace, according to a European Parliament draft report obtained by ABC News.

The report is the result of a year-long investigation into secret CIA "extraordinary rendition" flights and prisons in Europe.

No European country has officially acknowledged being part of the program.

But citing records from an informal meeting of European and NATO foreign ministers last December that included Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Parliament's draft report concludes "member states had knowledge of the programme of extraordinary rendition and secret prisons." 

The report said the recently fired head of Italian intelligence, General Nicolo Pollari, "concealed the truth" when he appeared before the Parliament's investigating committee and stated "that Italian agents played no part in any CIA kidnapping."

The report detailed the involvement of many European countries in what it called the CIA's "illegal" program.

It listed the number of CIA flights, or stopovers, it found in a number of countries.

Italy: 46 stopovers.

United Kingdom: 170 stopovers.

Germany: 336 stopovers.

Spain: 68 stopovers.

Portugal: 91 stopovers.

Ireland: 147 stopovers.

Greece: 64 stopovers

Cyprus: 57 stopovers.

Romania: 21 stopovers.

Poland: 11 stopovers.

Read the Full European Parliament Draft Report.

November 28, 2006 in CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (37)

Book: CIA Pilots Lived in Luxury Between Kidnappings

October 17, 2006 8:00 AM

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:

CIA pilots who flew kidnapped al Qaeda suspects to secret prisons for severe interrogation sessions stayed at five-star luxury resorts between rendition flights at taxpayers' expense, according to "Ghost Plane," a new book by journalist Stephen Grey to be published this week.

CIA flight crews enjoyed thermal spa treatments, fine dining and luxury accommodations at top Spanish golf and yachting resorts on the vacation island of Majorca, reports Grey.

The crew stocked their plane with fine wine, crystal and shrimp cocktails, also at the expense of the U.S. government. "Three bottles of fine Spanish wine, two of Pesquera and an Alion, along with five crystal glasses" on one trip, according to receipts and interviews with former pilots obtained by Grey.

In his book, Grey says the CIA lied to Italian authorities in a secret diplomatic cable to thwart an investigation into the disappearance of "Abu Omar," a suspected al Qaeda member who disappeared off the streets of Milan.

Italian authorities were told by the CIA that the missing man may have "traveled to the Balkan region."

In fact, the CIA had engineered his kidnapping and apparently sent the cable to cover its tracks, says Grey.

Grey says the misleading cable and a surveillance photo of Abu Omar were found on the computer of former Rome CIA Station Chief Robert Seldon Lady, who, along with more than two dozen other Americans, now faces an arrest warrant in Italy for his role in the CIA's secret rendition flights.

The CIA declined to comment.

October 17, 2006 in CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (64)

President Bush Reveals the Existence of Secret Prisons

September 06, 2006 6:04 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

The super-secret CIA operation was described by the President as tough but necessary, responsible for stopping al Qaeda plots around the world.

One of the most significant targets, the tallest building in Los Angeles, known as the Library Tower.

A former CIA official says it was to be hit by a hijacked aircraft.

Robert  Grenier, a former CIA counter-terrorism chief and now Managing Director of Kroll, Inc., "This was a serious serious plot. This was certainly well beyond the level of aspiration."

But intelligence sources say the CIA's ability to capture and break the 14 al Qaeda leaders stopped the plot against the Library Tower and more than a dozen others, including a hijacking at London's Heathrow airport, an attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi Pakistan and a proposed anthrax attack.

"This program has been and remains one of the most vital tools in our war against the terrorists," President Bush said today. 

The President described how the CIA produced a cascading series of arrests. Starting with the first of the captured al Qaeda leaders, Abu Zubaydah. Zubaydah had refused to cooperate until the CIA used what the President called an alternate set of interrogation procedures.

"Zubaydah was questioned using these procedures, and soon he began to provide information on key al Qaeda operatives," the President said.

That led the CIA to one of the plotters of the 9/ll attacks, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, taken into custody in Pakistan.

He too was subjected to the CIA's procedures and quickly broke.

Giving up the location of his al Qaeda boss, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, known as KSM, the mastermind of the 9/ll attacks.

"Once in our custody, KSM was questioned by the CIA using these procedures. And he soon provided information that helped us stop another planned attack on the United States," President Bush said.

The President would not reveal the CIA's interrogation procedures, but CIA officers have told ABC News they involve six escalating steps, ending in what's known as water boarding, in which prisoners are made to feel they are drowning.

Human rights groups call it torture, but the President disagreed.

"The United States does not torture," he said. "It's against our laws, and it's against our values. I have not authorized it, and I will not authorize it."

Hours before the President spoke today, the Pentagon released new rules of interrogation which outlawed water boarding.

September 6, 2006 in CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (11)

14 Countries Part of CIA's Global 'Spider Web' Says Investigator

June 07, 2006 2:40 PM

Maddy Sauer Reports:

Fourteen European countries were part of the global "spider web" used by the CIA to secretly transfer terrorism suspects, according to a new report released today.

Dick Marty, the Swiss investigator for the Council of Europe, said in his report that seven council member states could be held responsible for human rights violations.

"It is now clear… that authorities in several European countries actively participated with the CIA in these unlawful activities. Other countries ignored them knowingly, or did not want to know," said. Mr. Marty who released his findings in Paris earlier today.

Marty said it is possible that the rights of specific suspects were violated in Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Kingdom, Italy, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany and Turkey.

Several more countries colluded, actively or passively, in the detention or transfer of unknown persons, he said.

ABC News reported last year that Romania and Poland were two of the countries that had allegedly housed terror suspects. The Polish Minister of Defense, at the time, denied that any secret prisons were in his country. Marty's report concluded that both Poland and Romania housed prisoners at secret detention centers.

Marty also added that 'staging points' for the CIA flights were located in Germany, Turkey, Spain and Cyprus. He cited that the illegal flights transporting prisoners also made stops in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Italy.

While Marty faults the U.S. for creating "this reprehensible network," he also faults the European countries for their "intentional and grossly negligent collusion," adding that the claim that Europe was a victim of secret CIA plots "does not seem to correspond to reality."

This afternoon, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department dismissed the report's findings. "I think that we're certainly dissappointed in the tone and the content of it," said Sean McCormack. "There seem to be a lot of allegations but no real facts behind it."

Read the full report on the Council of Europe's website.

June 7, 2006 in CIA, CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (32)

Europeans in U.S. To Probe CIA Prisons

May 08, 2006 12:05 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

As the CIA reels from its management shake-up, a committee of the European Parliament arrives in Washington, D.C. today to continue its investigation of the CIA's secret prisons in Europe.

Members of the committee are seeking to meet with former CIA employees who may know of the existence of the facilities.

The United States maintains that it "does not transport and has not transported detainees from one country to another for the purpose of interrogation using torture."

ABC News has reported the CIA established secret prisons in Romania and Poland in 2002-2003 to house about a dozen top al Qaeda leaders.

ABC News also reported the prisons were shut down earlier this year and the al Qaeda figures moved to a facility in North Africa.

The CIA has declined to comment on the reports.

May 8, 2006 in CIA, CIA Secret Prisons | Permalink | User Comments (8)