A Look At A Secret CIA Prison In Poland

Visitors are not welcome to take the path to the villa in Stare Kiejkuty, where the CIA once interrogated Al Qaida suspects in northern Poland. Roy Gutman/MCT

Poland Peels Back Layers On Secret CIA Prison For Suspected Terrorists -- McClatchy News

STARE KIEJKUTY, Poland — On an idyllic lake surrounded by woods and a double row of mesh-and-razor-wire fences about 100 miles north of Warsaw, there stands a secluded villa that the CIA once used to interrogate – and allegedly torture – top al Qaida suspects.

On the grounds of the Polish intelligence-training academy and nicknamed “Markus Wolf” for the former East German spy chief, it’s the focal point for a top-secret probe that Polish prosecutors have launched into how their government tolerated rampant violations of international and Polish law.

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My Comment: I am surprised that the Poles have been able to get as far as they have on this case. The CIA is not forthcoming, and many in Poland just want this story to go away.

Lithuanian Intelligence Agency Set Up Secret Prisons For CIA

Lithuania denies report it hosted secret CIA prisons -- CNN

Washington (CNN) -- Lithuania's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday rejected a report from lawmakers saying the country had hosted secret CIA prisons as part of the "war on terror."

"There are neither facts nor information that secret CIA detention centers existed in Lithuania," the ministry said in a statement, contradicting Amnesty International statements a day earlier based on a report by Lithuanian lawmakers.

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More News On CIA Prisons In Lithuania

U.S. Put Jails in Lithuania, Premier Says -- New York Times
REPORT: Two CIA Black Site Prisons in Lithuania -- ABC News
Lithuania may have hosted two US 'war on terror' jails -- AFP
Investigation finds Lithuania had secret CIA jails -- Reuters
Lithuanian spy agency set up secret prisons for CIA -- The Guardian
Panel: Lithuanian security approved CIA prisons -- AP

Inside A CIA Secret "Torture" Prison

A photo taken on November 19, 2009 shows a training center of the Lithuanian State Security Department, the country's domestic intelligence agency, in Antavilis near Vilnius Photo: AFP/GETTY

EXCLUSIVE: CIA Secret 'Torture' Prison Found at Fancy Horseback Riding Academy -- ABC News

ABC News Finds the Location of a "Black Site" for Alleged Terrorists in Lithuania

The CIA built one of its secret European prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, a current Lithuanian government official and a former U.S. intelligence official told ABC News this week.

Where affluent Lithuanians once rode show horses and sipped coffee at a café, the CIA installed a concrete structure where it could use harsh tactics to interrogate up to eight suspected al-Qaeda terrorists at a time.

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My Comment: After 9/11 almost every political leader in the world was not only dedicated in helping the U.S. to prevent another attack, but they were also dedicated to the destruction of Al Qaeda as an effective terrorism organization.

Today .... every politician wants to wash their hands from what had to be done to prevent another 9/11 attack, and to what also had to be done to bring to justice those who had perpetuated such a horrible act.

The Shutting Down Of Guantanamo And CIA Prisions

In this photo, reviewed by the US Military, an American flag flies, with an old air-traffic control tower from a closed-down airport pictured in the background, at Camp Justice, the location of the US Military Commissions court for war crimes, at the US Naval Base, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on January 19, 2009. Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama, shown in this file photo, Jan. 12, 2009, say that one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. (Images/AP Photo )

Obama to Shut Guantánamo Site and C.I.A. Prisons
-- New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama is expected to sign executive orders Thursday directing the Central Intelligence Agency to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year, government officials said.

The orders, which would be the first steps in undoing detention policies of former President George W. Bush, would rewrite American rules for the detention of terrorism suspects. They would require an immediate review of the 245 detainees still held at the naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to determine if they should be transferred, released or prosecuted.

And the orders would bring to an end a Central Intelligence Agency program that kept terrorism suspects in secret custody for months or years, a practice that has brought fierce criticism from foreign governments and human rights activists. They will also prohibit the C.I.A. from using coercive interrogation methods, requiring the agency to follow the same rules used by the military in interrogating terrorism suspects, government officials said.

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Previous Post: Suspension Of Guantanamo War Crimes Trials Outrages 9/11 Families

More News On The Closure Of Guantanamo And CIA Prisons

Obama signs order to close Guantanamo in a year -- Yahoo News/AP
Obama to order Guantanamo closed -- Reuters
Obama to Close Guantanamo and Foreign Prisons, Limit CIA Methods -- FOX News
Plan to Eliminate Prison Faces Hurdles -- Washington Post
Obama to Close Terrorist 'Black Sites' -- Washington Times
Obama Expected To Close Guantánamo, CIA Secret Prisons -- RTT News
Obama to alter CIA detention, interrogation rules: report -- AFP
Sorting Out Guantánamo Detainees -- Christian Science Monitor
Obama Lays Groundwork For Gitmo Closure -- U.S. News And World Report
Obama to sign series of anti-torture orders -- Yahoo News/AFP
Guantanamo order foresees some detainees coming to U.S. -- McClatchy Newspapers
Obama spy chief choice backs Guantanamo closure -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Cuba to insist on Guantanamo base closure – Raul Castro -- Itar-Tass
News of Guantanamo's closure welcomed worldwide -- Yahoo News/AP

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Obama and Guantanamo -- Wall Street Journal
'Why Can't Guantanamo's Inmates Stay in America?' -- Der Spiegel
Obama and Guantanamo -- Wall Street Journal editorial
Guantanamo Remains a Problem for Obama -- Daily Telegraph editorial
Gitmo: Justice and Security -- Washington Post editorial
First Steps at Guantánamo -- New York Times editorial
Beyond Guantanamo -- Chicago Tribune
Chaos and Lies: Why Obama Was Right To Halt The Guantanamo Trials -- Huffington Post