Two important US NATO allies yesterday condemned the CIA’s harsh treatment of terrorist suspects detailed in a report this week, but praised the decision to make the investigation public.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara the report is being analyzed to determine whether any Turkish citizens were involved.
From what has already been read, “we see that there was inhumane and really unacceptable torture and treatment,” he said.
The US Senate Intelligence Committee’s 500-page report concluded that the CIA inflicted suffering on al-Qaeda prisoners beyond its legal authority and that none of the agency’s “enhanced interrogations” provided critical, life-saving intelligence. It cited the CIA’s own records, documenting in detail how waterboarding and other techniques were employed.
“I hope our friend and ally, the United States, won’t repeat these kinds of actions, that inhumane acts are not repeated,” Cavusoglu said.
Speaking alongside Cavusoglu, Slovakian Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said the use of illegal camps and “unacceptable methods of interrogation” detailed in the report had been known, but he welcomed the report’s publication.
“I see it as a sign of the United States distancing themselves from these practices of the past,” he said. “And it should also serve as a guarantee that things like that will never happen in the future.”
Meanwhile, a senior Thai official said the kingdom has never allowed the US to detain or torture terrorism suspects on its soil, contradicting reports that the CIA ran a secret prison in the country.
“We have never allowed the US to use our space for detention or torture and there have never been any requests to do so,” said Paradorn Pattanathabutr, a former Thai National Security Council boss who advises Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
The Senate report details the role of Thai authorities in capturing Indonesian militant leader Hambali in Ayutthaya, Thailand, in 2003. He is suspected of involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US and the bombing of a Bali nightclub in 2002.
Additional reporting by Reuters
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique