Behind the Wire: Update to Ending Secret Detentions

Behind the Wire, an update to Human Rights First’s Ending Secret Detentions, released in June 2004, assesses the nature and scope of the United States’ worldwide military and intelligence detention system. While identifying a few positive developments, the report concludes that the number of detentions is on the rise, as is secrecy surrounding the system. The scrutiny into military detentions over the past nine months, by U.S. courts and the Pentagon, has still failed to produce full answers to many of the most basic questions regarding the U.S. military and intelligence detention system. The report asks: - How many individuals are held in U.S. custody – both by military and intelligence agencies – in connection with the “global war on terror,” and where are they held? - Are “ghost detainees” still being held without access to visits from the Red Cross? - Why are family members not promptly notified that a relative is in custody, or given information about their health or whereabouts? - What is the legal basis for these detentions? In attempting to answer these fundamental questions, the report documents how U.S. global detention practices have failed to advance either the security interests of Americans or the values America seeks to protect.