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FBI & CIA Interrogating Detainees in Secret Ethiopian Jails, U.S. Citizen Among Those Held

by Democracy Now (reposted)
The CIA and FBI agents have been interrogating hundreds of detainees at secret prisons in Ethiopia. Many of the prisoners were recently transferred there secretly and illegally from Kenya and Somalia. They are being held without charge or access to counsel. One of those held is 24 year-old U.S. citizen, Amir Mohamed Meshal. We speak with an attorney working on Meshal's case, Human Rights Watch and a reporter in Nairobi who covered the story.
The Associated Press reports the CIA and FBI agents have been interrogating hundreds of detainees at secret prisons in Ethiopia. Many of the prisoners were recently transferred there secretly and illegally from Kenya and Somalia. They are being held without charge or access to lawyers or their families.

At least one of the prisoners held in Ethiopia is an American citizen. 24 year-old Amir Mohamed Meshal was detained in Kenya, then transferred to Somalia, then to Ethiopia. On Monday, Congressember Rush Holt of New Jersey called on Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to demand his release. Meshal's parents live in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

We are joined by three guests:

* Anthony Mitchell, reporter for the Associated Press. He joins us on the line from Nairobi, Kenya.
* John Sifton, researcher at Human Rights Watch. Read HRW letter to Kenyan government.
* Jonathan Hafetz, lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. He is assisting the family of Amir Mohamed Meshal, the US citizen detained in Ethiopia.

LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/05/141256
§U.S. Agents Visit Ethiopian Secret Jails
by UK Guardian (reposted)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaida militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries held at secret prisons in Ethiopia, which is notorious for torture and abuse, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

Human rights groups, lawyers and several Western diplomats assert hundreds of prisoners, who include women and children, have been transferred secretly and illegally in recent months from Kenya and Somalia to Ethiopia, where they are kept without charge or access to lawyers and families.

The detainees include at least one U.S. citizen and some are from Canada, Sweden and France, according to a list compiled by a Kenyan Muslim rights group and flight manifests obtained by AP.

Some were swept up by Ethiopian troops that drove a radical Islamist government out of neighboring Somalia late last year. Others have been deported from Kenya, where many Somalis have fled the continuing violence in their homeland.

Ethiopia, which denies holding secret prisoners, is a country with a long history of human rights abuses. In recent years, it has also been a key U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida, which has been trying to sink roots among Muslims in the Horn of Africa.

U.S. government officials contacted by AP acknowledged questioning prisoners in Ethiopia. But they said American agents were following the law and were fully justified in their actions because they are investigating past attacks and current threats of terrorism.

The prisoners were never in American custody, said an FBI spokesman, Richard Kolko, who denied the agency would support or be party to illegal arrests. He said U.S. agents were allowed limited access by governments in the Horn of Africa to question prisoners as part of the FBI's counter-terrorism work.

More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6531179,00.html
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