[JURIST] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official website] is expected to deliver a stern message to leaders in Europe when she heads there Monday, telling them in effect to "back off" from their criticism of US treatment of terror suspects and the existence of alleged secret CIA prisons. Rice, who has been largely silent on the detainee issues, will address officials in Germany, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, and will also stop in Romania, which has denied that it hosts a secret prison. She is expected to remind European allies that they are also partners in the war on terror, and that the US does not violate international laws. Reuters has more.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [official website] says it is preparing to file a lawsuit against the CIA on behalf of a man allegedly taken to a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan, charging that "CIA officials at the highest level violated US and universal human rights law when they authorized agents to abduct and [detain] an innocent man". BBC News has more.