Researched by Kerry Headley and Jennifer Donahue
Evidence indicates that the CIA has been using a US air base as a secret prison for al-Qaeda suspects in the British territory Diego Garcia and working with the British government to prevent the return of the island’s original inhabitants who were forcibly relocated in the late 1960s. Retired four-star US General Barry McCaffrey has twice stated that Diego Garcia has been used to hold terror suspects. Corroborating sources include a Swiss senator, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture, former detainees and UK-based legal charity Reprieve, which spent several years investigating extraordinary rendition and secret prisons. The British Foreign Office continues to appeal High Court rulings that found the mass expulsion of the 2,000 residents of Diego Garcia illegal. The US has said allowing the islanders to return would present an ‘unacceptable risk’ to its base. It acknowledges only that in 2002 two flights containing a single detainee stopped at Diego Garcia.
“Scandal at Diego Garcia” Andy Worthington, Counterpunch 7/8/2008 http://www.counterpunch.org/worthington07082008.html
“Guantanamo’s Ghosts: The Shame of Diego Garcia” Andy Worthington, Counterpunch 10/20-21/2007 http://www.counterpunch.org/worthington10202007.html