Reykjavik Transit

Between 2003 and 2006, the CIA operated a secret prison from the building's basement, bringing in high-value terror suspects for interrogation and detention, minutes from the center of Romania’s capital city of Bucharest. The CIA prison opened for business in the fall of 2003, after the CIA decided to empty the black site in Poland, according to former U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the detention program with reporters.
Shuttling detainees into the facility without being seen was relatively easy. After flying into Bucharest, the detainees were brought to the site in vans. CIA operatives then drove down a side road and entered the compound through a rear gate that led to the actual prison.
The detainees could then be unloaded and whisked into the ground floor of the prison and into the basement.
The basement consisted of six prefabricated cells, each with a clock and arrow pointing to Mecca, the officials said. The cells were on springs, keeping them slightly off balance and causing disorientation among some detainees.
The CIA declined to comment on the prison.
During the first month of their detention, the detainees endured sleep deprivation and were doused with water, slapped or forced to stand in painful positions, several former officials said. Waterboarding, the notorious interrogation technique that simulates drowning, was not performed in Romania, they said.

Labels: black site, bucharest, CIA, cia flights, detainee, extraordinary rendition, Romania

Amnesty International publishes report on complicity in rendition of EU members such as Poland and other former Eastern Bloc countries. here

Labels: Amnesty International, Bulgaria, complicity, EU, European Union, extraordinary rendition, Poland, rendition detention detainee flight CIA, Romania

I have long fought to ban the use of contractors in interrogations and detention operations. So, I am very pleased that Mr. Panetta has announced that contractors will no longer conduct interrogations. I have introduced legislation this year and in the last Congress that would have banned such interrogations, and the CIA is now following this policy.

“The Director has also made a decision to terminate a contract to conduct security at the remaining CIA sites until they are decommissioned. I have been pushing to have the contract terminated and am very pleased with the Director’s decision. In addition to placing responsibility for detention and interrogation in the hands of government employees, where it belongs, Mr. Panetta has indicated that having the CIA carry out site security will save up to $4 million.


Statement of Senator Feinstein on Decision by CIA Director Panetta To Ban Contractor Interrogations, Terminate Site Contract. The sites were in Thailand, Romania and Poland, among other places.

Labels: black site, CIA Director, detainee, Feinstein, Panetta, Poland, Romania, Thailand