CIA May Have Held 100 'Ghost' Prisoners

[papau]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/10/politics/10abuse.html?hp
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-prison10sep10.story
THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
CIA May Have Held 100 'Ghost' Prisoners
By John Hendren
Times Staff Writer

September 10, 2004

WASHINGTON — Pentagon investigators believe the CIA has held as many as 100 "ghost" detainees in Iraq without revealing their identities or locations, a much greater number than previously disclosed, a senior Defense Department official told Congress on Thursday.

However, the precise number of undisclosed prisoners and the conditions in which they have been held remain a mystery, said Army Gen. Paul Kern, because CIA officials have refused to cooperate with Pentagon investigators, denying repeated requests for documents and information on the detainees.

The CIA apparently has held between a dozen and three dozen unregistered prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad since the war in Iraq began in March 2003, and others elsewhere in the country, said Kern, who is overseeing the investigations of prisoner abuse. Pentagon officials had previously cited only eight cases of failure to account for prisoners, which is an apparent violation of international law under the Geneva Convention.

"If they fall under the category of ghost detainees, there are no records," Kern told reporters after addressing members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Members of the panel expressed surprise over the number of detainees and disbelief and outrage over the lack of CIA cooperation. <snip>