Ghost Prisoners

Groups list 39 "disappeared" in U.S. war on terror

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Six human rights groups urged the U.S. government on Thursday to name and explain the whereabouts of 39 people they said were believed to have been held in U.S. custody and "disappeared."

The groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said they filed a U.S. federal lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act seeking information about the 39 people it terms "ghost prisoners" in the U.S. "war on terror."

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The report said suspects' relatives, including children as young as seven, had been held in secret detention on occasion.

CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano dismissed the report, saying the CIA acts in "strict accord with American law" and its counter-terrorist initiatives are "subject to careful review and oversight."

"The United States does not conduct or condone torture," he said.

Once, the United States wielded the moral authority of a nation with a history of commitment to human rights and the rule of law.

Today, under the Bush regime, we are reduced to non-denial denials of torture and lawless detention, including that of children. Most of the Republican Party's presidential hopefuls are promising, to thunderous applause from GOP primary voters, more of the same.

This has to stop.