Maravi

US denies having CIA prison in Zambia

US denies having CIA prison in Zambia
Written by Mwala Kalaluka and Masuzyo Chakwe
Thursday, January 29, 2009 9:48:28 AM

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) vice-president Guy Scott yesterday said it is improper for the US government to start pre-empting the Zambian government over revelations by the United Kingdom’s Guardian newspaper that a secret CIA prison exists in Zambia.

Scott's comments come in the wake of a statement by US Ambassador to Zambia Donald Booth in which he denied the existence of any secret Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prison facility or any similar entities in Zambia.

Scott, who raised a point of order in Parliament on Tuesday over the article in the Guardian, said the question aimed at clarifying the news story was not directed to the US government but the defence minister in the Zambian government.

Scott urged the US Embassy officials to wait for the Zambian government to give a position over the revelations, in view of the directive given by Speaker of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa to defence minister George Mpombo urging him to provide the truth or otherwise on the issue.

"We have done the right thing because we have raised a point of order on a story that we have and this government has a chance to clear the air. I do not know why the US government is trying to pre-empt the Zambian government," Scott said.

He said it was highly unlikely that the Guardian's inclusion of Zambia, as one of the 14 countries hosting CIA secret detention centres, was a mistake given the news publication's reputation for investigative journalism, especially around the issue of CIA 'black sites'.

Scott said it would be incumbent on President Rupiah Banda's administration to prove whether the map in question was false or not and that this was the reason a statement on the matter was being eagerly awaited.

"If it turns out to be true that we have CIA secret prisons, we are holding the government to account," Scott said. "If Zambia has been colluding in rendition and torture, it makes itself liable. We want proper human rights in this country."

Speaker Mwanamwambwa has directed that an official statement on the reports of the existence of a secret CIA detention facility in Zambia be brought before Parliament as soon as possible. Ambassador Booth noted in a press release yesterday that there had never been any such prison facilities in Zambia.

"There are not, nor have there ever been, US Government prisons or similar entities in Zambia," Ambassador Booth stated.

According to a map published in the UK’s Guardian of Friday January 23, 2009, Zambia has been highlighted as one of the countries with one CIA secret facility that President Barack Obama wants shut.

The source of the map was indicated as Reprieve, an international organisation that advocates for better prison conditions, among other legal aspects.

Labels: CIA, DONALD BOOTH, GUY SCOTT, GW BUSH, PF

posted by MrK @ 9:48 AM