# CIA prison in Lithuania: were laws broken and who should be held responsible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 19, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150 "2009-11-19T15:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150/41 "2009-11-21T23:55:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Prisoners have rights when they’re in American custody but I don’t think there’s a right to remain in American custody and not be handed off to another country’s custody. Subcontract interrogation?.. why don’t we just hire mercs and forget having our own army. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150/42 "2009-11-22T01:15:58Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > **Rune** can’t possibly be under the impression that all of this was unquestionably legal - if it was, it would be much cheaper and efficient to just torture people in the US. You’ve got to be kidding me - of all the products the US could have a competitive advantage in, you guys are the most efficient at _torture_? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150/43 "2009-12-01T03:12:00Z")
First, I just wanted to post that [the accusations of the facility being a CIA-operated prison are apparently true](http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/investigation-confirms-secret-prison/story?id=9209929). > [@ABC News](#): > > A Lithuanian government investigation has confirmed an exclusive ABC News report that the CIA operated a secret black site prison in the country, according to a report on Lithuanian television. My thanks to **Bricker** and everyone who has provided relevant statutes, etc. > [@Rune](#): > > Personally, as a European, and of a small country allied with the USA in the war on terror, in Iraq and Afghanistan I’m wondering when the US is going to sell us down the river for public tabloid amusement and if it is really worth being a fried of the USA when their appreciation is so obviously trivial. I’m thinking if the USA had really valued and respected what Lithuania had done for them they wouldn’t have gone that extra mile to embarrass them or put them in unnecessary danger. Just going to try and clarify something here: You realize that, in the US, the government holds no power to restrict the press writing about something, right? The US did not set out to embarass Lithuania, or to denigrate them in any way, I’m sure. I’m also sure that ABC News didn’t set out to do that either. The information itself accomplished that, and it seems to me that the people you should be railing against are the people, both American and Lithuanian, who made/allowed this prison to happen. They are the people who embarassed Lithuania (and the US), not the people who pointed it out. Making backroom deals to commit illegal acts is reprehensible, and frankly I wonder if the RICO statutes wouldn’t apply here (I doubt it, but I’d like to see someone held responsible, and I’d like to feel like they had the proverbial book thrown at them, ya know what I’m sayin’?). ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150/44 "2009-12-02T18:37:13Z")
Didn’t we basically legalize torture a couple years back? So it’s all gravy. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150/45 "2009-12-02T19:05:22Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Did the American press consider they fucked a faithful American ally in the ass when they made this information public, or was that never part of the consideration? Did you just seriously blame the press (which, last time I checked was “free”) for blowing the whistle on this operation? I guess next time the CIA opens a secret interrogation center somewhere, the press should just conspire to keep it secret, just so your allies are not “fucked”. By all means, keep that secret torture a secret and keep the mighty Lithuania happy. Jesus that’s pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150/46 "2009-12-02T19:32:55Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Didn’t we basically legalize torture a couple years back? So it’s all gravy. Actual policy that was passed further illegalized torture (or more specifically, told everyone that all the laws passed to date were still in effect.) > **[Detainee Treatment Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCain_Detainee_Amendment)** > > The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (DTA) is an Act of the United States Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 30, 2005 as part of Public Law 109-148. Offered as an amendment to a supplemental defense spending bill, it contains provisions relating to treatment of persons in custody of the Department of Defense, and administration of detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including: > Many voices were crucial in pushing for the bill's passage. In particular, f... You’re thinking of the memo that Chaney sent out telling everyone to go ahead with sleep deprivation and loud music and so on. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150/47 "2009-12-02T19:58:20Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Actual policy that was passed further illegalized torture (or more specifically, told everyone that all the laws passed to date were still in effect.) > > [Detainee Treatment Act - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCain_Detainee_Amendment) > > You’re thinking of the memo that Chaney sent out telling everyone to go ahead with sleep deprivation and loud music and so on. I have memories sometime in 2006 that Congress passed something that basically said everything that has been done is OK and won’t be reviewed. No? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cia-prison-in-lithuania-were-laws-broken-and-who-should-be-held-responsible/518150.md?page=2)