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New CIA Torture Documents Confirm Chilling Details of Khaled El-Masri's 'Kafka-esque' Ordeal
After being mistakenly abducted in Macedonia and detained in a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan, Khaled El-Masri told his interrogators that his ongoing detention was like "a Kafka novel." A cable to CIA headquarters reported that El-Masri said he "could not possibly prove his innocence because he did not know what he was being charged with."
Jun 17, 2016
After being mistakenly abducted in Macedonia and detained in a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan, Khaled El-Masri told his interrogators that his ongoing detention was like "a Kafka novel." A cable to CIA headquarters reported that El-Masri said he "could not possibly prove his innocence because he did not know what he was being charged with."
Much has been reported on this tragic case of mistaken identity at the hands of the CIA. But this week, additional details on El-Masri's case emerged when the CIA released a new batch of documents in response to an ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Among the many disturbing details relating to the CIA's post-9/11 torture and rendition program was a revealing investigation carried out by the CIA's inspector general into the rendition and torture of El-Masri, an innocent German citizen who was disappeared, detained, and abused by the CIA for over four months in early 2004. (The ACLU now represents El-Masri in a pending case against the U.S. before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.)
The investigation makes clear that El-Masri's unlawful rendition and detention were rife with neglect, abuse, and incompetence, reaching to the highest levels of the CIA.
The investigation makes clear that El-Masri's unlawful rendition and detention were rife with neglect, abuse, and incompetence, reaching to the highest levels of the CIA. It reveals that even as the CIA "quickly concluded he was not a terrorist," two CIA officers who had been involved in his rendition justified his continued detention "despite the diminishing rationale, by insisting that they knew he was 'bad.'"
The document also confirms that former CIA Director George Tenet "was informed about the ... January 2004 ... rendition shortly after it happened and then again in late April 2004." Yet El-Masri was not freed and allowed to return to his family in Germany until May of that year after former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice ordered it. The CIA didn't inform Congress of the mistaken rendition until after his repatriation and after it learned that he had retained an attorney.
The report confirms the grueling psychological torture that El-Masri was subjected to, along with the CIA's blatant disregard for his physical and mental health while in custody. In protest of his wrongful detention, El-Masri went on a hunger strike and lost 50 pounds. A CIA psychologist described him as "openly tearful and speechless" and suffering from "feelings of helplessness, hopeless ... [and] wishing he was dead." Another psychologist confirmed the intensity of his "depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and anger."
The source of his deteriorating mental health, the psychologists believed, was "the unknown status of his case and the uncertain length of his detention, complicated by lack of interaction with Agency personnel." The psychologists recommended releasing him. Their reason was not his innocence or his mental health, but the need to avoid "potential long-term issues for HQs."
The CIA's inspector general report confirms that El-Masri's prolonged arbitrary detention and cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment included solitary confinement in a "small cell with just a bucket for his waste." The report concludes:
"[T]here was an insufficient basis to render and detain al-Masri and the Agency's prolonged detention of al-Masri was unjustified. His rendition and long detention resulted from a series of breakdowns in tradecraft, process, management, and oversight. CTC and [redacted] failed to take responsible steps to verify al-Masri's identity. ALEC Station exaggerated the nature of the data it possessed linking al-Masri to terrorism. After the decision had been made to repatriate al-Masri, implementation was marked by delay and bureaucratic infighting."
Yet after it was decided that El-Masri should be freed, he languished in the CIA prison for more than two months because of "bureaucratic infighting" and "bureaucratic differences." At one point, the CIA considered transferring El-Masri to the custody of the U.S. military. This option was ultimately ruled out because "such a move could complicate matters"; "the U.S. military would register al-Masri and notify the Red Cross of his detention"; and, without grounds to suspect he had a role within al-Qaida, "the US military would have no grounds on which to detain him" and "he could be a free man within hours."
After it was decided that El-Masri should be freed, he languished in the CIA prison for more than two months because of "bureaucratic infighting" and "bureaucratic differences."
Despite recognizing a terrible mistake, the Bush administration pressed the Supreme Court to refuse to hear El-Masri's (brought by the ACLU) case against Tenet. The court acquiesced, deciding not to review the case—which had been dismissed by the lower courts on "state secrets" grounds—the very same month the inspector general report was submitted to the administration.
Beyond an "oral admonition" given to three CIA attorneys, no one has been held accountable for El-Masri's ordeal. The CIA's inspector general referred El-Masri's case to the Department of Justice for prosecution -- but in May 2007, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to pursue the case.
This report confirms what the ACLU has said for years: At the height of the so-called "War on Terror," the CIA made grave mistakes and committed outrageous violations of domestic and international law. Yet, no one responsible for these acts has been held accountable. Despite the CIA's best efforts to keep this and so many other stories secret -,- the CIA told El-Masri that a condition for his release was "that he would not reveal his experiences to the media or local authorities" -- the truth is steadily coming out. And still, El-Masri and other victims of CIA torture continue to wait for what they deserve -- a full criminal investigation into those responsible for overseeing and implementing the program, an acknowledgment of what they went through, an official apology, and compensation to help them rebuild their lives. This is the very least President Obama can do for them before leaving office.
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'Deplorable': Refugees Face Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets at Greece-Macedonia Border
'A pregnant woman came into the clinic with her two children; she was close to the border when tear gas was used, people started to run, she fell down.'
Apr 11, 2016
Following reports that hundreds of refugees and migrants--including women and children--were wounded on Sunday when Macedonian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds on the Greek side of the border, protesters marched in the small village of Idomeni on Monday, highlighting what one human rights expert described as an "absurd humanitarian crisis" that is "becoming more unbearable by the day."
Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Sunday that Macedonian police had employed tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades to disperse crowds gathered in front of the Greek police barricade at the Idomeni border crossing. Idomeni is home to a sprawling, makeshift refugee camp where thousands are stuck in "purgatory."
"Today, frustration and a growing feeling of anger are spread among the refugees who have been stranded in Idomeni for over one month," said Jose Hulsenbek, MSF's head of mission in Greece. "What we see is the inevitable result of thousands being trapped in Greece, a country unable to respond to the humanitarian and protection needs of those in search of safety in Europe."
Deutsche Welle reported:
Clouds of chemicals spread throughout the refugee camp and the village of Idomeni. People with red eyes attempted to cover the gas clouds with blankets. Some refugees had smeared toothpaste on their faces, foreseeing the tear gas and hoping to mitigate its effects. Activists had brought washbasins to allow those who had been hit to rinse their eyes.
"Do you see this?" a refugee who was watching the clashes said. "This is like Palestine, Gaza."
The Macedonian police deployed the tear gas for over two hours. They even threw stones and later fired water cannons and rubber bullets. People were fainting; volunteers and activists rushed to get them out of the conflict zone and provide first aid.
MSF said its teams treated 300 people on Sunday, including 200 with respiratory problems after being subjected to tear gas and around 30 children between 5 and 15 years old. Dozens of patients received psychological care as they were in shock, according to MSF, and seven people with open wounds or suspected fractures were referred to a local hospital.
"The MSF clinic has been full all day," said Conor Kenny, MSF doctor in Idomeni. "Three children were brought in with head injuries due to rubber bullets. People outside were shouting and many of them were carrying rubber bullets in their hands. A pregnant woman from Syria came into the clinic with her two children; she told me she was close to the border when tear gas was used to disperse the crowd, people started to run and she fell down."
Protests began again on Monday morning.
The United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, on Monday condemned the use of force, saying it was "a matter of great worry to UNHCR" and "should be too for all who are concerned with Europe's response to the situation of refugees and migrants."
"Time and again in recent months we have seen tension unfolding at various European borders, between security forces on the one hand and people fleeing war and in need of help on the other," said UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards. "People get hurt and property is damaged. Harm is done to perceptions of refugees and to Europe's image alike. Everyone loses."
What's more, Edwards said the episode should serve as a reminder that while chaos unfolds in the Aegean islands and in Turkey, the situation is similarly desperate in Idomeni, where "about 11,000 have been sleeping for many weeks now in the open in dismal conditions, fueling hopelessness and despair."
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras chimed in on Monday, saying the actions by Macedonian police brought "great shame" to Europe. Greek government spokesman George Kyritsis added: "The indiscriminate use of chemicals, rubber bullets and stun grenades against vulnerable populations... is a dangerous and deplorable act."
Indeed, said MSF's Hulsenbek, "What people need is to be treated with dignity, not violence or unpredictable border closures and more uncertainty. This absurd humanitarian crisis created by European states' policies is becoming more unbearable by the day."
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New Low for Europe as Police Bulldoze Camps, Tear Gas Asylum Seekers, and Shutter Borders
Police attacked refugees with tear gas, water cannons, and stun grenades while dismantling the refugee camp in Calais and refusing migrants entry into Macedonia
Mar 01, 2016
"The jungle burns," reported Germany's Die Zeit on Tuesday. French authorities in the northern prefecture of Calais began their planned demolition of part of the sprawling refugee camp known as "the Jungle" on Monday. They continued into the next day despite protests and clashes with refugees and humanitarian groups.
"While the current situation in Calais is unsustainable, evictions are no solution to a crisis on which the French and British governments have turned their backs for years," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia director. "The authorities need to look at this situation holistically, not just out of concern for border management, housing, and hygiene. Each of these individuals has needs and rights that must be protected."
Residents burned their shelters and sat atop shacks and lean-tos in protest of the government's actions, and riot police in turn attacked the refugees with water cannons and tear gas in an attempt to disperse them.
Video footage from Britain's Channel 4 News reveals that the French government also broke its promise not to use bulldozers to destroy the camp:
"This is not the way to solve the refugee problem," Maya Konforti, a volunteer for a humanitarian group, told the New York Times.
Police on the Greece-Macedonia border also on Monday used tear gas and stun grenades to stop people from crossing into Macedonia.
The Balkan state has followed Austria's example and severely limited the number of refugees it is allowing inside the country, prompting the #SafePassage campaign from humanitarian groups who say that European countries are violating human rights and international law by closing their borders to refugees.
Tens of thousands of refugees have been trapped in the Greek border town of Idomeni since Macedonia essentially closed its borders to migrants last week.
The Washington Post reported that most of the asylum seekers trapped in Greece are women and children.
In a series of tweets, the United Nations High Commission called for better treatment of refugees and improved coordination between EU member states to deal with the crisis:
Greece, overwhelmed by an influx made worse by neighboring countries' refusal to allow refugees entry, is asking the European Union for millions of euros in emergency funds, France 24 reported:
"Greece has submitted an emergency plan to the European Commission ... corresponding to around 100,000 refugees," government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili told reporters, with the requested aid totaling 480 million euros ($534 million).
"We cannot bear the strain of all the refugees coming here," Gerovassili added.
"The surge of the vulnerable comes at the worst possible time," the Washington Post observed. "Just as European nations are barring their doors and 25,000 refugees are suddenly trapped in near-bankrupt Greece, a country that was once merely an entry point."
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You Are the Border, Not Us
When I posted yesterday's tweet on UNHCR's involvement in managing the border crossings at the Greek-Macedonian border town of Idomeni, I expected an outcry. What I saw, and what I tried to document, was UNHCR lending support to the Macedonian military police, managing the refugee crowd away from the border back to the transit camp on the Greek side.
Nov 24, 2015
When I posted yesterday's tweet on UNHCR's involvement in managing the border crossings at the Greek-Macedonian border town of Idomeni, I expected an outcry. What I saw, and what I tried to document, was UNHCR lending support to the Macedonian military police, managing the refugee crowd away from the border back to the transit camp on the Greek side.
This was done in the context of a new policy started in Serbia on 17 November and followed by Macedonia a day later, according to which Macedonian authorities only allow Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi passport holders to cross the border into their country. A country, which presently almost all refugees pass through on their way to Europe but in which virtually no one wants to remain.
This then was UNHCR, the leading UN refugee protection agency, supporting the enforcement of border restrictions designed to implement a selective right to claim asylum based on nationality. The right to claim asylum, as outlined in the Refugee Convention of 1951, is both a universal and an individual right. As such, it is available to anyone irrespective of nationality. UNHCR had become co-opted by border politics.
And the international response I received? Silence.
I believe this reaction, or rather the lack thereof, is emblematic of two recent developments, which are part of a wider, worrying trend.
First, we are increasingly becoming accustomed to seeing prime humanitarian actors, such as UNHCR and MSF active on European soil. Whilst many NGOs currently present in Idomeni have been providing services to the local population in the past, as is the case for Medecins du Monde Greece, the humanitarian response to a situation unfolding in the EU is far from ordinary.
Organizations such as MSF as well as UNHCR usually operate in environments of acute conflict in politically unstable contexts, where government is weak to non-existent and the economy very poor. Despite all the difficulties Greece is facing right now - politically, economically and socially - it can still provide for its population and, with the necessary support, for transiting migrants. This is unlike the contexts which call for humanitarian action in other parts of the world.
This is even more so the case as Greece, as part of the European Union, does not only have obligations towards the Union. Indeed, Greece is and should equally be able to count on the EU's support. If anything, the so-called European refugee crisis has only underlined the need for a common response and Angela Merkel has yet to grow tired of invoking European solidarity and European solutions, especially in the current refugee context. The present situation in Idomeni, where humanitarian actors have stepped in providing state-like services, such as basic health care, electricity and garbage collection, is very far from the ordinariness that everyday pictures of humanitarian aid workers distributing food in Greece have come to suggest.
The normalization of extraordinariness has come hand in hand with a second, separate but linked phenomenon. Indeed, UNHCR does not stand alone as humanitarian actors becoming co-opted in a political power game, played out by states along national borders with ever-stricter entry policies.
The European refugee crisis is at its heart a political crisis, not a humanitarian one. Of course, many would argue that the current presence of humanitarian actors along borders and fences, the provision of food, shelter and child-friendly spaces, merely offers families on the move much-needed space to rest on their long journey to Europe.
At the same time however, these so-called transit camps become buffer zones, through which people's movement can be regulated (albeit to a limited degree) and allow political actors to continue their political games. The many Iranians, Bangladeshi, Eritreans and Sudanese who are currently trapped in Idomeni camp are comforted in their despair by humanitarian actors who refer them to the facilities available, to the warmth in the tents, the food, the showers.
Thereby however, through the camps, the tents, the heaters and the blankets humanitarian actors have become active participants in the politics of containment of the European Union. The EU's strategy of keeping people in their place, which has if anything only led individuals towards ever-more dangerous routes with 3,485 deaths recorded at sea this year and 71 deaths in one motor truck alone on the Balkan route, is likely to claim more deaths in the near future.
As the situation stands now, the winter is at Greece's footsteps and a constant number of several thousands of people arrive every day in Idomeni. If the border restrictions remain in place, we have to be prepared for more deaths, this time not at sea, but here, along the way to the allegedly safe haven of Europe. If this happens, humanitarian actors will be blamed, more aid will flow, more tents will be erected, more sleeping bags distributed. This however, will not solve the crisis Europe is facing; it will only make it less visible.
Humanitarian actors often pride themselves and their actions as guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality and independence. They act according to need and remain distinctively outside politics. But here, in Idomeni, emblematic for the European context, humanitarian actors, by their actions, but also by their mere presence, have become an intrinsic part of the system of migration management and border control. UNHCR's latest performance in Idomeni is only the starkest example of a development, which all humanitarian organisations in the transit camp are part of.
The latest migration policies instituted by states along the Balkan route will almost inevitably lead to increasingly dangerous situations. Dangerous situations, which humanitarian organizations will sustain, because they will stay and try to mitigate the circumstances. But in such a situation, change can only happen at political level. And to influence that, humanitarian organizations claim, their work is far too apolitical.
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War Refugees Trapped, Under Fire Trying to Enter Macedonia
Amnesty International: 'Macedonian authorities are responding as if they were dealing with rioters rather than refugees'
Aug 22, 2015
Several thousand rain-soaked war refugees and asylum-seekers ran across Macedonia's border from Greece Saturday as riot police chased them lobbing stun grenades, tear gas and beating them with batons. The violence came as Macedonia is cracking down on the flow of thousands of Syrian war refugees attempting to reach safety in western Europe by traveling through the Balkan region.
In the chaos, many families were separated, some left in Macedonia and others pushed onto the Greek side of the border. Children in tears searched for their parents shouting "mama, baba" while parents scoured the area for their missing children.Security forces boxed in hundreds of the refugees in no-man's land - including many children who were separated from their parents in the chaos. But several thousand others made it through muddy fields to Macedonian territory after days spent in the open without access to any shelter, food or water.
In the chaos, many families were separated, some left in Macedonia and others pushed onto the Greek side of the border. Children in tears searched for their parents shouting "mama, baba" while parents scoured the area for their missing children.
"In this Europe, animals are sleeping in beds and we sleep in the rain," said 23-year-old Syrian woman Fatima Hamido after running across the border. "I was freezing for four days in the rain, with nothing to eat."
Amnesty International led condemnations of the Macedonian authorities saying: "Every country has the power to patrol its own borders, but this kind of para-military response is an unacceptable push-back in violation of international law. Macedonian authorities are responding as if they were dealing with rioters rather than refugees who have fled conflict and persecution. If the reports of beatings and firearm use by the security forces are true, this would mark a very dangerous escalation of an already tense situation. All countries have a duty to protect those fleeing conflict and persecution, and Macedonia is no exception. When the system cannot cope, you improve the system - you don't just stop people from coming in."
A witness on the Greek side of the border told Amnesty International that Macedonia's Rapid Reaction Unit, an anti-terrorist police unit, had been beating refugees and asylum-seekers who were trying to enter Macedonia, and firing over their heads. A local NGO confirmed the use of rubber bullets.
The war in Syria has uprooted millions of people, including over 4 million who have fled their homeland. The US, a country that used to be a leader in refugee resettlement, has taken in fewer than 1,000 of them.Media reports and video have surfaced of Macedonian police using riot control agents and truncheons to beat people who did not seem to be posing any threat. The Ministry of Interior has issued a statement saying that stun grenades had been used.
A Syrian man spoke to Amnesty International from near Eidomeni on the Greek side of the border. He said that in the past two days, the Macedonian military have been preventing at least 1,000 people in that area, including families and lots of small children, from crossing the border. Groups of around 10 Macedonian troops in military uniform were positioned about every 50 meters along the border.
"We urge the (Macedonian) government to start opening the border again and prioritizing the most vulnerable, such as women, children and sick people," Alexandra Krause, a senior protection officer with the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said Saturday.
"There are around 3,000 people here and the numbers are rising," Krause told Reuters. "People are exhausted. It has rained all night and they had no shelter."
The war in Syria has uprooted millions of people, including over 4 million who have fled their homeland. The US, a country that used to be a leader in refugee resettlement, has taken in fewer than 1,000 of them.
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