The United States government has made people disappear.

It’s ghastly, a violation of international law and of the Geneva Conventions, but no one is being held accountable and, as far as we know, the practice continues.

The CIA refuses to provide information about “ghost detainees” to military officers investigating the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. One of these men was “disappeared” on the direct order of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld himself, and we know that others have been held off the books.

The argument that the people who are being held secretly are terrorists does not outweigh the serious danger posed to the rule of law. Besides, in matters of terrorists’ arrests and detentions – as well as other intelligence matters – the government has shown itself to be fallible.

So far, the abuse of prisoners by U.S. personnel has been investigated and the reports point up the chain of command to the Pentagon. Meanwhile, prisoners continue to be held in secret, their condition unknown to the world.

Sen. John Warner has vowed to continue his investigation into the ghost detainees. But that’s not enough.

The practice must end, the CIA and military must stop their stonewalling, and someone must be held to account. That’s not going to happen until an independent investigation – conducted outside the military chain of command – is launched.