JURIST - Paper Chase: CIA prison flights may have refueled in Romania, says former defense minister

[JURIST] Former Romanian defense minister Ioan Mihai Pascu has acknowledged that US planes carrying detainees may have refueled in the country, but has denied the existence of a secret CIA-run prison there. His comments, published Saturday in Evenimentul Zileli [media website, English version] are the first by a senior Romanian official with access to military information that appear to confirm press reports [JURIST report] and subsequent contentions [HRW press release] by Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] about secret CIA flights and the existence of possible "black" detention centers in Poland and Romania. They come just days after European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs [official website] Franco Frattini [official profile] said the EU will sanction any member country found to house such prisons [JURIST report]. AP has more.

Meanwhile, British members of parliament will begin hearing testimony Monday about CIA flights through UK airports. UN officials and human rights lawyers have warned that the failure to intercept such flights could breach the UN Convention against Torture [text]. The Independent has more. Spain is already conducting a similar investigation [JURIST report].

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