Cia torture unredacted presents the findings from a fouryear joint investigation by the rendition project and the bureau of investigative journalism into the use of rendition, secret detention and torture by the central intelligence agency cia and its partners in the war on terror. Todays vote to declassify and ultimately release portions of the exhaustive senate select committee on intelligence ssci report on the cia s rendition, detention, and interrogation program is a crucial milestone in the quest for transparency concerning u. Landmark rulings expose polands role in cia secret detention. Cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition, outlines more than 50 countries that participated in the program. Laws condemning extraordinary rendition, torture, and detention. The cia has employed illegal techniques such as torture, enforced disappearances, and extraordinary rendition, said meg satterthwaite, director of the nyu ihrc. Cias extraordinary rendition of terror suspects challenged. The practice of extraordinary rendition represents the low point of the war on terror, in which systematic torture, enforced disappearance and secret detention were carried out by the cia in coordination with many other states and individuals worldwide. There are serious allegations that the cia has used means of torture to interrogate suspects. A major aspect of the cia s detention and interrogation operations has been purposefully hidden from view, primarily due to secrecy guidelines that make it illegal for anyone to read. Cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition 1. Apr 03, 2014 in the face of these failures, the court found that the general public has the right to know what happened. In january 2006, following media reports that european nations may have assisted the cia in its extraordinary rendition efforts, the european parliament established a temporary committee to determine whether the cia or other us agents have carried out abductions, extraordinary rendition, detention at secret sites, detention. Beginning in the early 1990s and continuing to this day, the central intelligence agency, together with other u.
Laws condemning extraordinary rendition, torture, and detention 11. Extraordinary rendition, extraterritorial detention, and. An empirical evaluation of the cia rendition, detention, and interrogation program averell schmidt and kathryn sikkink in the years following the attacks of 911, the cia adopted a program involving the capture, extraordinary rendition, secret. Arar, a thirtyfouryearold graduate of mcgill university whose family emigrated to canada when he was a teenager, was arrested on september 26, 2002, at john f. As noted above, in spite of the cia s failure to properly disclose the details of abdallahs detention, available knowledge about the rdi program strongly indicates that he suffered egregious rights violations, including torture. The ssci report and the right to the truth about the cias.
Jul 29, 2016 globalizing torture cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition, open society, 20 july 29, 2016 topics. New york and washington, dcapril, 2009 the obama administration should take immediate steps to declassify and release documents that would allow the american public to understand the truth about the human rights violations committed as part of the u. Diego garcia guards its secrets even as the truth on cia. Extraordinary rendition and torture human rights in practice. Globalizing torture is the most comprehensive account yet assembled of the human rights abuses associated with cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations. Globalizing torture, cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition globalizing torture, cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition reported by open society justative 216 pages. The british security and intelligence committee 2007, p. Cia acknowledges it has more than 7,000 documents relating.
Extraordinary rendition, extrajudicial practice, carried out by u. After three days of interrogation, the men were flown to egypt, allegedly aboard a cia chartered plane. Dec, 2014 shortly afterwards the cia initiates its extraordinary rendition programme. Secret detention sites european court of human rights. Extraordinary rendition and torture victim narratives. Following the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, the central intelligence agency embarked on a highly.
Cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition download the 216page report. The solution, they found, was extraordinary rendition, a program where continue reading 20 facts about extraordinary rendition, torture, and secret detention. Interview with stephen grey, author of ghost plane. European complicity in renditions and secret detention. This publication is available as a pdf on the open society foundations website under a creative commons license that allows copying and distributing the publication, only in its entirety, as long as it is attributed to the open society foundations and used for noncommercial educational or public policy purposes.
Pol 300032006 reported that the cia is investigating some three dozen additional cases of erroneous rendition, in which people were detained based on. In her article, measuring extraordinary rendition and international cooperation, rebecca cordell seeks to subject the rendition flights database to a modelbased, statistical analysis. Landmark rulings expose polands role in cia secret detention and torture 24 july 2014, 00. Cia extraordinary rendition flight program and the judicial reactions in various. Extraordinary rendition is widely used to describe the kidnapping foley, 2008 and transfer of suspects by the united states to foreign countries ralph, 2009 and secret prisons and secret prisons in order to carry out coercive interrogation foley, 2008 making it very likely that the individual will be subject to torture and other forms of inhuman, degrading treatment. Secret prisons and extraordinary rendition hold people outside the law, without contact with lawyers, family members, or the outside world. He also complained that romania had failed to carry out an effective investigation into his allegations.
It is one of the most comprehensive examinations of. The cia s failure to cooperate with members of congress demonstrates the need for public scrutiny of the secret detention and extraordinary rendition program under foia. Black sites, extraordinary renditions and the legitimacy. The term extraordinary rendition is not a clearly defined legal term, however. Whereas most detainees in the war on terror have been formally registered by the us authorities, and granted access to the international committee of the red cross and through them to their families, many have been held in secret. As will be discussed more in the next lesson, the goal of the extraordinary rendition program is to gain actionable intelligence from prisoners. A major report on the cias rendition, detention and interrogation rdi program was released today by the open society justice initiative. If they wanted to torture and detain people beyond what any conceivable interpretation of us law, even in guantanamo, could allow, they were going to do it. This case concerned the extraordinary rendition the abduction by cia agents, with.
The procedure of extraordinary rendition is a little more complex than suggested by these definitions. Measuring extraordinary rendition and international. Extraordinary rendition, torture, and disappearances in the. The program was designed to place detainee interrogations beyond the reach of law. This report is the most comprehensive account yet assembled of the human rights abuses associated with secret detention and extraordinary rendition. Such renditions have been carried out for example by the united states government. Cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition see other formats. To date, owing to the extraordinary secrecy surrounding cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations, there is no precise estimate of the total number of detainees subjected to these operations.
Cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition by. Cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition open society justice initiative on. Statement to employees by director of the central intelligence agency leon e. Learn more about the agency and find some top secret. Documents related to the former detention and interrogation. States central intelligence agency cia transport him under the secret extraordinary rendition programme onto its territory and had allowed him to be subjected to illtreatment and arbitrary detention in a cia detention black site. Abdallah was detained in the cias secret prison system for well over two years. Cia extraordinary rendition and detention program authors note. Cia secret detention and extraordinary rendition acknowledgments this report was written by amrit singh, senior legal officer for the open society justice initiatives national security and counterterrorism program, and edited by david berry. The true story of the cia rendition and torture program. The cias extraordinary rendition and secret detention programme.
Countries involved in extraordinary renditions 1812051 european countries albania cia officers working with the albanian police reportedly seized five individuals, who were alleged to have been planning to bomb the u. The publics right to concerning the cia program thus would require the release of information about the rationale for, the workings of, and the aftermath of secret detention and extraordinary rendition. Mar 18, 2016 none of them guessed that it might be a key facility in the us central intelligence agency s rendition, detention and interrogation programme, one of a secret network of black sites, set up in half a dozen countries to house undisclosed prisoners out of reach of lawyers, the red cross or other branches of the us government. On 5 march, the special rapporteur presented his report on the framework. This report focuses on the human rights abuses associated with the cia s postseptember 11, 2001 secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations. Those agencies asserted that the practice exempted detainees from the legal safeguards afforded to prisoners. Gina haspel, tapped to lead the cia, oversaw torture in bush. Ii defining modern torture in 1993, darius rejali published torture and modernity, which considered. A major report on the cia s rendition, detention and interrogation rdi program was released today by the open society justice initiative.
The request see s authorization to investigate inter alia torture, cruel. Documents related to the former detention and interrogation program. Amr 511772005 illegal detentions, rendition and reverse rendition all three had entered the usas network of illegal detentions, secret transfers and unacknowledged prisons, where suspects are arbitrarily shuttled in and out of us. By the time of its closure, in march 2006, the existence of the cia s secret detention programme had been widely.
Reports of torture, abuse, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are common, and these detainees have no recourse for the abuses that they have suffered. Extraordinary rendition and torture what the narratives of victims. Extraordinary rendition and the torture convention. The secret history of americas extraordinary rendition this 2005 article by jane mayer tracks the official and nonofficial versions of the u. Tenet, in which khaled elmasri, an innocent german citizen victimized by the cia s policy of extraordinary rendition, challenges his abduction, detention and interrogation in a secret overseas prison at the hands of cia operatives. Following the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, the central intelligence agency embarked on a highly classified program of secret detention and extraordinary rendition of terrorist suspects. David berry, senior communications officer at the open society justice initiative. Equipo nizkor globalizing torture cia secret detention. Open society institute open society foundations open society justice initiative. The cia s extraordinary rendition and secret detention programme. The program was intended to protect america, but as described in the open society justice initiatives report, globalizing torture. It documents the secret detention of detainees in cia custody. Is unlawful extraordinary rendition still being conducted by the usa. The cias failure to cooperate with members of congress demonstrates the need for public scrutiny of the secret detention and extraordinary rendition program under foia.
Declassified documents now reveal there were two cia. It details for the first time what was done to the 6 known victims, and lists the 54 foreign governments that participated in these operations. Rights groups call on obama to declassify documents on secret. Questions and answers 3 amnesty international january 2006 ai index. The role of islamophobia in the extraordinary rendition and torture. Globalizing torture cia secret detention and extraordinary. Extraordinary rendition, counterterrorism, and international law. Cia acknowledges it has more than 7,000 documents relating to. A comprehensive look at the cias rendition, detention. In the war on terrorism waged by the united states the activities of the us central intelligence agency cia have been in the spotlight of discussions for several years. Secret detention in cia black sites 3 amnesty international november 2005 ai index. The full extent of the cia s extraordinary rendition programme has been laid bare with the publication of a report showing there is evidence that more than a quarter of the worlds governments. Cias post september 11, 2001, secret detention and extraordinary rendition.
This is what will happen if trump brings back secret prisons. Sep, 2015 interview with stephen grey, author of ghost plane. Dec 03, 20 men claim torture at cia black site prison in poland in rare case challenging extraordinary rendition program. It received valuable comments from betsy apple, james. Study 2009 ciaextraordinary rendition flights, torture and accountability a european approach in january 2009, the ecchr published the second edition of their report cia extraordinary rendition flights, torture and accountability. The cias extraordinary rendition and secret detention. Such activities include extralegal renditions of terrorist suspects and their subsequent detention in secret prisons. Part iii analyzes the legal arguments presented by the bush administration to justify extraordinary rendition, european investigations, and explanations offered by secretary of state condoleezza rice. Cias postseptember 11, 2001, secret detention and extraordinary rendition. This publication is available as a pdf on the open society. It details for the first time what was done to the 6 known victims, and lists the 54 foreign governments that participated in. The legal controversies extraordinary rendition is an intelligencegathering tool that transcends party lines. The cias extraordinary rendition and secret detention programme european reactions and the challenges of future international intelligence cooperation claudia hillebrand netherlands institute of international relations clingendael march 2009. Feb 05, 20 the full extent of the cia s extraordinary rendition programme has been laid bare with the publication of a report showing there is evidence that more than a quarter of the worlds governments.
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