Renditions ongoing by the US to Ethiopian prisons

You would think that the US would have realised by now that these renditions show it as a country that hasn't the slightest respect for human rights when it comes to anyone who might be remotely connected to terrorism. The US has become an international pariah and anti-US sentiments are growing throughout most of the world.
Given the rhetoric about freedom and human rights in the US it is surprising that the US public and intelligentsia is not taking action to stop this barbarian practice.


U.S. questions Canadians in secret Ethiopian prisons by Anthony Mitchell
Globe and Mail 04/04/07

Nairobi : CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaeda militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating terrorism suspects from 19 countries, including Canada, at secret prisons in Ethiopia, notorious for torture and abuse.

Human-rights groups, lawyers and several Western diplomats assert hundreds of prisoners, including women and children, have been transferred secretly and illegally in recent months from Kenya and Somalia to Ethiopia, where they are kept without charge or access to lawyers and families.

They include at least one U.S. citizen and some are from Canada, Sweden and France, according to a list compiled by a Kenyan Muslim rights group and flight manifests obtained by The Associated Press.

Some were swept up by Ethiopian troops who drove a radical Islamist government out of neighbouring Somalia late last year. Others have been deported from Kenya, where many Somalis have fled violence in their homeland.

Ambra Dickie, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Canada, said last night the department was looking into reports of Canadians being interrogated by CIA and FBI agents in East Africa, but would not be commenting at this time.

Ethiopia, which denies holding secret prisoners, is a country with a long history of human-rights abuses.

U.S. government officials acknowledged questioning prisoners in Ethiopia. But they said U.S. agents are following the law and are investigating past attacks and current threats of terrorism.

Some U.S. allies have expressed consternation at the transfers to the prisons. One Western diplomat in Nairobi, who agreed to speak only if not quoted to avoid angering U.S. officials, said he sees the United States as playing a guiding role in the operation.

Associated Press