Amnesty International has received consistent reports that the US authorities have a network of secret detention centres around the globe, holding an unknown number of “war on terror” detainees in unknown conditions. In September 2005, Amnesty International spoke with Muhammad al-Assad, a Yemeni national who had lived in Tanzania for 25 years, who had been caught up in this sinister system. He was effectively “disappeared” by the US for over 16 months.
