The quiet Republic of
Lithuania has hit the
international headlines
after ABC News revealed the
existence of a secret prison
in that country. The CIA
used the now not-so-secret
prison to torture prisoners.
This former exclusive riding
academy outside Vilnius,
Lithuania, was converted
into a secret CIA detention
center.
A horse stable, located in
the neighborhood where
several members of the
Lithuanian government
reside, was the place chosen
for this 'black hole' - one
of many that the CIA
established in different
places of the world.
ABC News reports that the
installation was used by the
CIA between September 2004
and November 2005, and the
Lithuanian Parliament wants
to know who the government
officials were who permitted
the creation of that secret
prison.
It was there where CIA
agents used the most
despicable forms of torture
against at least eight
individuals locked up in the
dungeons. They were not
charged with any crime and
were never given a chance to
defend themselves.
The torture of prisoners is
a terrible violation of
human rights, but this is
standard operating procedure
used by the United States
and its agents to try to
extract information from its
prisoners.
It's well known that CIA
agents taught Latin American
soldiers in the fine art of
torture. The spirit of Dan
Mitrione, the infamous CIA
specialist who offered his
expertise in the brutal
methods of torture during
interrogation in Uruguay in
the 1970s, hovers over many
barracks. We can be sure
that ol' Dan is smiling
somewhere, with the return
of a fascist dictatorship in
Honduras.
Secret prisons, in the dark
corners of the world and
hidden by the Pentagon and
the Central Intelligence
Agency, have sprung up in
countries like Poland,
Romania and now Lithuania.
According to an
investigation carried out by
the European Union, several
other countries also hosted
these 'black holes' where
prisoners were tortured -
including Germany, Spain,
Cyprus, Turkey, Sweden,
Macedonia and Bosnia.
The same EU report notes
that prisoners were
transferred through a number
of countries. Among them:
Ireland, the United Kingdom,
Portugal, Italy and Greece.
So far, Bosnia is the only
country which has admitted
its connection with illegal
human trafficking, but the
evidence of a wide network
of nations is growing.
What is especially
remarkable is that the
United States has managed to
escape international
condemnation for these
blatant human rights
violations. Why is it that
some groups, like Human
Rights Watch, ignore that
the CIA is a branch of the
U.S. government which
receives its orders and
funding from the White House
and the Congress?
If an entity of the
government openly violates
humanitarian guarantees and,
therefore, treaties and
international agreements
regarding torture and abuse,
the responsibility is
automatically transferred to
its top leaders. This is a
fundamental truth which, for
some obscure reason, does
not apply in the case of the
United States.
It is an extreme
contradiction to say that
one is fighting terrorism...
only to employ terrorism in
its crusade against what it
calls “evil.“ It's like
trying to extinguish a fire
with gasoline.
The big question remains:
When will the United States
be held responsible for its
crimes against humanity and
find itself before the
International Criminal Court?
