UN torture investigator says US Diego Garcia detention allegations 'credible'

Jurist, March 3, 2008

Joshua Pantesco

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak [UN profile] told AP on Sunday that multiple sources have confirmed that the US detained terror suspects at the US military base on the British island of Diego Garcia between 2002 and 2003, a claim which the US has previously denied. According to Nowak, his sources are "credible" and include former detainees at Diego Garcia.

Nowak's claim directly conflicts with a statement [text; AP report] made by US CIA Director Michael Hayden [official profile] last Thursday:

There has been speculation in the press over the years that CIA had a holding facility on Diego Garcia. That is false. There have also been allegations that we transport detainees for the purpose of torture. That, too, is false. Torture is against our laws and our values. And, given our mission, CIA could have no interest in a process destined to produce bad intelligence.

Last Thursday, UK Secretary of State David Miliband [official profile; BBC profile] retracted a previous statement that no US military planes had ever stopped at Diego Garcia to refuel during extraordinary rendition flights [JURIST news archive] and admitted that US planes had stopped at Diego Garcia [JURIST report]. Miliband also said that "the US Government has assured us that no US detainees have ever been held on Diego Garcia." Nowak first reported the Diego Garcia allegations [JURIST report] in 2005. AP has more.