European Nations Allowed U.S. Torture of Terror Suspects, Court Rules

European judges have ruled that Lithuania and Romania violated the rights of two al Qaeda terror suspects by allowing the CIA to torture them at secret “black site” prisons inside their countries. The European Court of Human Rights ruling said Romania hosted a CIA prison, where suspect Abd al-Nashiri was subjected to “an extremely harsh detention regime,” in 2003-2005. The same verdict was issued against Lithuania, where a CIA prison operated between 2005 and 2006 and held suspect Abu Zubaydah. The suspects were subjected to blindfolding or hooding, solitary confinement, the continuous use of leg shackles, and excessive exposure to noise and light, according to court documents. The existence of the interrogation black sites was kept secret for many years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Both suspects are now held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.