U.S. accused of detaining suspected terrorists in ‘floating prisons”

A soon to be published report from the human rights organization Reprieve documents cases of United States ships being used as “floating prisons” to house detainees arrested in the war on terror, and says the U.S. government has attempted to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of those detained, The Guardian reported Monday.

According to the article, the report “also claims there have been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006, when President George Bush declared that the practice had stopped.”

According to Reprieve’s research, up to 17 ships may have served as “floating prisons” since 2001. Detainees were interrogated aboard the U.S. ships, and then rendered to other undisclosed locations.

“They choose ships to try to keep their misconduct as far as possible from the prying eyes of the media and lawyers,” said Clive Stafford, Reprieve’s legal director. “We will eventually reunite these ghost prisoners with their legal rights.”

Reprieve said that information used in the report was acquired from multiple sources, including statements from the U.S. military, the Council of Europe and related parliamentary bodies, and the testimonies of prisoners.

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