By Asiye Latife Yilmaz
ISTANBUL (AA) - The Pentagon initially proposed sending two survivors of an alleged drug-smuggling boat attack to a prison in El Salvador to keep them out of US courts, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, Pentagon officials faced uncertainty after rescuing two survivors from a boat the US military struck in the Caribbean for allegedly carrying drugs, prompting a search for where to send them.
During talks with State Department counterparts, Pentagon lawyers suggested placing the men in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, a proposal that is said to have left State Department lawyers stunned and was ultimately rejected.
The survivors were ultimately sent back to their home countries, Colombia and Ecuador, the NYT reported, citing officials.
Just under two weeks later, on Oct. 29, Pentagon officials held another meeting on the boat strike survivors, this time a video conference with dozens of US diplomats from across the Western Hemisphere.
According to the officials, the guidance conveyed was that any rescued survivors should be returned to their home countries or sent to a third country.
Later, an official said Pentagon lawyers and officials made clear they did not want any rescued survivors entering the US detention or legal system, including Guantanamo Bay, even for a short time.
For the first time, after the Oct. 16 strike on a semi-submersible vessel, the US military airlifted two survivors, one Colombian and one Ecuadorian, by helicopter. They were repatriated and never prosecuted, with one later disappearing.