Foreign Affairs Ministry categorically denies existence of CIA prison in Romania
Romania's Foreign Affairs Ministry has issued a complete denial of all the allegations in the report published February 5 by the Open Society Justice Initiative. The Globalizing Torture report yesterday accused the Romanian authorities of involvement in the CIA's extraordinary rendition and secret detention programs following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.
“The Romanian authorities do not have any information showing that there were CIA detention centers or that airports were used by the CIA for the transportation and detention of prisoners suspected of terrorism in Romania,” reads the Ministry's statement. However, the Globalizing Torture report quoted evidence from a wide variety of sources suggesting that Romania was one of 54 countries around the world involved in the transport of terror suspects and one of seven to host a secret CIA detention center.
The Foreign Ministry said there was no new evidence in the report to show that Romania was involved and referred back to an inquiry set up by the Romanian Senate in 2005, which eventually refuted all claims of Romanian collusion in the CIA programs. However, Globalizing Torture refers to a 2007 Council of Europe report stating that the existence of a secret detention center in Romania was “factually established.” Yesterday's Open Society Justice Initiative report also states that “recent investigations by Reprieve into CIA extraordinary rendition flights that flew into and out of Romania confirm the ineffectiveness of the Senate inquiry.” Reprieve is an NGO investigating European involvement in the CIA programs.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Romanian authorities had received notifications from the European Court of Human Rights of the cases of detainees currently contesting that their human rights were breached by Romania.
Finally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls into question the objectivity of the report on the grounds that the Open Society Justice Initiative is involved in legal action on behalf of detainees in the CIA programs.
editor@romania-insider.com
(photo source: CIA)
