Alleged CIA "black sites" in E. Europe

The Washington Post's story revealing two secret prisons in Eastern European nations made shockwaves this week in Europe and around the world.

Dana Priest's reporting, which necessarily relied on anonymous "intelligence officers" as sources, details the creation of a web of secret prisons starting with the war in Afghanistan in 2001. At one point there were prisons in Thailand, Afghanistan and "small democracies in Eastern Europe." The CIA subsequently shut the prison in Thailand at the request of the Thai government.

The "Salt Pit" (referred to in abuse documents) remains open in Afghanistan. According to Priest's report, in total the CIA holds about 30 "high-value" prisoners, an unknown number remaining in the two mentioned sites in Eastern Europe.

Since the article's publication November 2, Human Rights Watch came forward with evidence that the CIA's "rendition" program made repeated trips with charter jets to airfields in Poland and Romania, suggesting that these were the two countries hosting secret CIA facilities.

Following this report, there was swift reaction in Europe, as it would seem rather scandalous that EU member states could host prisons which are in contravention of numerous European and international laws and treaties. Polish officials admitted that a plane did in fact touch down on the tarmac at a remote, rarely-used airfield on the very day that HRW claims a CIA-chartered plane landed there. Romanian officials denied entirely the insinuation that the CIA holds prisoners at one of its airport facilities.

The Council of Europe's Human Rights chief Alvaro Gil-Robles was the most outspoken, following the HRW allegations, calling for an investigation.

But a European Union spokesman said only with more evidence would the EU investigate the allegations, which both Polish and Romanian officials have denied.

One wonders whether for lack of further evidence, this story and investigation into the possibility of CIA "black sites" in Eastern Europe will die. Interesting are to be raised, if indeed the allegations are true: why Europe? Why didn't the CIA use Central Asian airbases? Why wasn't the "Salt Pit" in Afghanistan sufficient to hold the 30 "high value" prisoners?