Extraordinary rendition

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Extraordinary rendition is the CIA activity of "transferring" or "flying captured terrorist suspects from one country to another for detention and interrogation" without the benefit of "formal legal proceedings." [1][2]

"Extraordinary" or "Irregular" Renditions

"Persons suspected of terrorist activity may be transferred from one State (i.e., country) for arrest, detention, and/or interrogation. Commonly, this is done through extradition, by which one State surrenders a person within its jurisdiction to a requesting State via a formal legal process, typically established by treaty. Far less often, such transfers are effectuated through a process known as extraordinary rendition or irregular rendition. These terms have often been used to refer to the extrajudicial transfer of a person from one State to another." --Michael John Garcia, Legislative Attorney, American Law, Library of Congress September 22, 2005.

To date, the only public inquiry into extraordinary rendition has been conducted by the Arar Commission in Canada, into the abduction and torture of Syrian-Canadian citizen Maher Arar.

Planes alleged to have been used for extraordinary rendition

Bush administration statements on "rendition"

Condoleezza Rice

Alberto R. Gonzales

Scott McClellan

Alleged rendition pilots

In mid 2007, three pilots allegedly involved in the extraordinary rendition of Khalid El-Masri had their real identities revealed. The rendition of El-Masri was a particularly unfortunate one as it eventually turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.[1] The three pilots are alleged to be

Fictional Movies on Extraordinary Rendition

CIA director: Rendition good, journalists bad

Facing mounting criticism of the renditions policy, CIA director Michael Hayden defended it in a September 2007 speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. The session included a non-denial denial of allegations that the agency uses waterboarding and other methods of torture. According to an Associated Press report, Hayden claimed that:

The renditions have been "conducted lawfully, responsibly, and with a clear and simple purpose: to get terrorists off the streets and gain intelligence on those still at large," Hayden said.
...He said media reports "cost us several promising counterterrorism and counterproliferation assets" because CIA sources stopped cooperating out of fear they would be exposed. In one case, he said, news leaks gave a foreign government information that allowed it to prosecute and jail one of the CIA's sources. In a 20-minute question-and-answer session with the audience, Hayden disputed assertions that the CIA has used mock drowning, stress positions, hypothermia and dogs to interrogate suspects — all techniques that have been broadly criticized.
"That's a pretty good example of taking something to the darkest corner of the room and not reflective of what my agency does," he told one person from a human rights organization.[4]

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. Dana Priest, "Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake. German Citizen Released After Months in 'Rendition'," Washington Post, December 4, 2005.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Christina Stefanescu, "Wie enttarnt man einen CIA-Kidnapper? (How does one unmask a CIA kidnapper?)" (PDF), Zusammenfassungen zur nr-Jahreskonferenz 2007 (Summaries to the NR yearly conference 2007), page 22, netzwerkrecherche.de, 2007.
  3. Harry Kirk Elarbee (alias Kirk James Bird), SourceWatch.org, July 26, 2007.
  4. Adam Goldman, "Hayden: CIA Had Fewer Than 100 Prisoners", Associated Press, September 8, 2007.

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