 Last month The Observer carried a claim from a United Nations source that the British Pacific territory of Diego Garcia has been used to house prisoners subjected to extraordinary rendition by America. Manfred Nowak, the UN special rapporteur on torture, said several detainees had told him they had been held there before being transferred to secret detention centres elsewhere.
| The detainees were trained to lie about their circumstances of course, but the Y'urp-peons don't care about that. And Mr. Nowak can't reveal his sources ... |
Last week the Foreign Office minister, Kim Howells, said in Parliament: 'We have received allegations about detainees being held on US ships stationed outside the three-mile territorial waters of Diego Garcia from a number of interested non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International and Reprieve [a campaign for people sentenced to death].' Howells said the government was prepared to look into claims that Diego Garcia, which is now a US naval base, had been used for extraordinary renditions. He added that his fellow Foreign Office minister, Lord Malloch-Brown, had contacted Nowak to encourage him 'to provide the government with any evidence he may have regarding these allegations'.
Nowak has offered to share his information - which was given on a confidential basis - if he can gain agreement from his sources.
| Wonder what the odds are of that happening? |
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