Secret prison
Secret prisons , also called "black prisons" (English: Black Jail), are the location and sometimes the name according to the public kept secret areas or facilities in which people are held without the captivity by the otherwise competent judiciary or by non-governmental organizations such as the ICRC are controlled, as is the case with official prisons .
A secret prison differs from an internment camp mainly in its size, internal structure and the treatment of the prisoners. Internment camps usually consist of several thousand prisoners who are under camp administration and have limited self-government, which is not the case in secret prisons with a few hundred inmates at most. Gross mistreatment and torture have also been proven in detention centers.
Displaced persons are secretly detained and interrogated in secret prisons, and torture has been proven in some uncovered cases . These institutions are outlawed around the world, as prisoners are cut off from any legal recourse due to secrecy . Even if no physical torture is used, the grueling state of being completely exposed without outside assistance is white torture . The victims of secret prisons are always deprived of proper legal proceedings, and even arrests are in most cases to be classified as unlawful. Secret prisons contradict the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions . In the Anglo-Saxon area they also contradict the Habeas Corpus Amendment Act , in member states of the Council of Europe the European Convention on Human Rights and in NATO states in connection with the NATO troop statute the national constitutions.
history
Prisons, in which mostly opponents of the regime without rights were held indefinitely, were and are not uncommon in many countries around the world. Therefore, the concept of the secret prison is less related to the creation of these institutions than to the development that led to their ostracism. This has its origins in Europe, where it was promoted at the national level primarily by emerging democracies. It was only later that these institutions were also frowned upon at international level.
National
- In England in 1679, the Habeas Corpus Amendment Act first made detention without trial and without knowledge of what one was charged with illegal. The defendant had to be brought before a judge within three days, and he was not allowed to leave the country.
- In the USA , which was founded in 1776 , the Habeas Corpus Amendment Act also became part of the constitution.
- In the German Basic Law it is listed in Art. 104 Paragraphs 2 and 3.
- The Civil Code, which emerged during the French Revolution and was disseminated in Europe by Napoleon in 1804, prescribed elementary rights such as the presumption of innocence and equality before the law. Parts of the Code Civils can still be found in the French constitution today.
International
National legislation was often limited to citizens of their own country, and there were still many gray areas in wartime. In 1864 the Geneva Conventions began to regulate them. In 1929 the status of prisoners of war and the rights to which they are entitled were defined, which were further specified in the revision of 1949. The legal classification z. B. by saboteurs and rebels could still be interpreted in many ways, so that it was improved or supplemented until 1977. However, several states, including the USA, refuse to ratify the revised versions. Among other things, the conventions forbid detainees being held after the end of the war or extraditing them to possibly torturing states. Of course, every person is to be treated at least humanely, but certain groups of people can also assert other rights.
Germany after 1945
The occupation forces directed from 1945 next to internment camps and specialty camps also secret prisons. The best known is the British secret prison Bad Nenndorf .
Current
United States
The USA operated a secret prison on Diego Garcia until its existence became apparent in 2003 - after that this secret prison continued to operate as an official concentration camp . Amnesty International accused the United States of operating a worldwide network of secret prisons and camps in addition to well-known but legally questionable institutions such as the Guantanamo prison camp in which people are illegally detained and treated. The human rights organization Reprieve estimated the number of inmates in secret prisons operated by the US at 27,000. International organizations such as the UN and several national governments have called for these facilities to be closed. The US government's common term for these locations is “ black sites ”. Two days after taking office as the new President of the United States, Barack Obama ordered the closure of all secret CIA prisons with immediate effect.
Israel
According to a report by the Israeli daily Haaretz , the Israeli Defense Forces operated a secret prison until 2006, the location of which is subject to confidentiality and which traded under the name Anlage 1391 . The prison is said to have been used by the Mossad and the Shabak to house prisoners. In several newspaper reports (Haaretz, Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique), ex-prisoners have their say who experienced human rights violations there and reported torture.
Iraq
According to a report by Spiegel-Online, the new Iraqi Interior Ministry operated at least one secret prison until around autumn 2005, in which alleged former supporters of Saddam Hussein's regime were held. Most of the prisoners (mostly of Sunni origin) discovered by Iraqi and US soldiers in a building in the Baghdad district of Jadriya are said to have shown signs of severe physical abuse. The Iraqi government announced an investigation after this information became known; the Iraqi interior minister said that those responsible would be held accountable.
China
According to an investigation report by Human Rights Watch , secret prisons in former psychiatric facilities, hospitals and state hotels have been used in China since 2003 to illegally attack e.g. B. petitioners or human rights lawyers to proceed. Minors are also said to be among the detainees. Torture, rape and theft are said to be not uncommon in black prisons, with the operators of these secret prisons even being paid a daily amount of 150-300 yuan per inmate from the government. Furthermore, even China's media reported in 2010 about a former secret prison in Beijing.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mario de Queiroz: Questions in Portugal About CIA Flights to Guantánamo ( Memento of the original from May 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , IPS, April 4, 2008
- ↑ Aviv Lavie: Inside Israel's secret prison ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , HAARETZ.com, August 20, 2003 (English article)
- ↑ Jonathan Cook : Israel's Secret Prison - Annex 1391 . Le Monde diplomatique, November 21, 2003
- ↑ The Guardian on Systematic Torture in Israeli Secret Prisons.
- ^ Mathias Müller von Blumencron: Suspicion of torture: malnourished prisoners discovered in Baghdad's secret prison , SPIEGEL ONLINE, November 15, 2005
- ↑ China: Secret “Black Prisons” Hide Serious Human Rights Abuses, Human Rights Watch, Nov. 13, 2009, accessed Oct. 25, 2016
- ↑ Henrik Bork: Those who seek justice are mistreated , Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 17, 2010, accessed October 23, 2016
