Amnesty makes CIA flights claims

THE director of Amnesty International Spain, Esteban Beltrán, said yesterday that, following months of investigations into the alleged CIA “terror flights” which have been landing at Palma airport, among others in Spain and Europe, “at least ten of the flights have landed in Majorca and they may well have been secretly carrying people to other destinations.” Esteban Beltrán also claimed yesterday that, not only were the flights illegally moving people around, “but they may have also been carrying out illegal kidnaps.” The AI Spain chief also claimed that the activities of these flights may be extremely important because they may have been used to take people against their will, according to him, “to countries where they could have been tortured and abused much easier than in the United States.” “These flights are all part of the United States' policy on the treatment of prisoners overseas such as the lack of lawyers, no judges, illegal detention centres and secret flights on military missions,” he said. Beltrán also urged the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos, to make sure he is clear of the facts when he appears before a parliamentary hearing next week. “He has to have all the information clear, if these flights were illegal, when they were here in Spain and under what jurisdiction and control,” said Beltrán. According to the AI Spain chief, Amnesty International is aware of at least three people who were taken from Afghanistan to detention centres in Jordan “where they were tortured and held for two years,” he claimed before alleging that they were then taken to Yemen where they are still under US jurisdiction. This coming week, the alleged CIA flights is going to be one of the main political issues with Moratinos expected to appear before parliament on Thursday.