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Extraordinary Rendition Scandal Reaches New Heights: Rice
on the Offensive in Europe Over Bush Administration's Use
of "Torture Flights"
British Tory MP Blasts Extraordinary Rendition, Says Britain
Broke International Law and "Complicit in Torture"
if Flights Passed Through UK
Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy Among 13,000 to Sign Petition
Calling for Release of Kidnapped Aid Workers
Extraordinary Rendition Scandal Reaches New Heights:
Rice on the Offensive in Europe Over Bush Administration's
Use of "Torture Flights"
The scandal over the Bush administration's use of so-called
"extraordinary renditions' is reaching new heights. Rendition
- what many call kidnapping - is the highly controversial
practice of transporting detainees seized overseas by U.S.
agents to countries known for using torture. On Sunday, the
Washington Post detailed how a German citizen was seized in
Europe by the CIA, beaten, drugged and held to a secret prison
in Afghanistan for five months before the agency realized
they had the wrong man. [includes rush
transcript]
The scandal over the Bush administration's use of so-called
"extraordinary renditions' is reaching new heights. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Europe today for a five-day
trip to address the issue directly. Last month the European
Union wrote to Rice expressing concern over reports that the
US was using secret jails in Europe for its rendition program.
Rice will reportedly respond by telling allies to "back
off" over the issue.
The highly controversial practice of rendition involves transporting
suspects seized overseas by US agents to countries known for
using torture and holding them there for interrogation.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has announced
it is taking the CIA to court over its rendition program.
The lawsuit - which will be filed on Tuesday - charges the
CIA broke both US and international law when they authorized
agents to abduct an innocent man, detain him incommunicado,
beat him, drug and transport him to a secret CIA prison in
Afghanistan.
Over the weekend, the Washington
Post reported that the US admitted to German officials
in May 2004 that the CIA had mistakenly imprisoned a German
citizen for five months but asked the German government to
remain quiet about it.
The man, Khaled El-Masri, was arrested in Macedonia on December
31, 2003. He says he was handed to US officials and flown
to a secret prison in Afghanistan where he was held in appalling
conditions and interrogated as a terrorism suspect. He was
returned to Europe five months later when the CIA realized
they had the wrong man.
Citing interviews with current and former intelligence and
diplomatic officials, the Post reported that after the September
11th attacks, the staff of the CIA's Counterterroist Center
- or CTC - quadrupled in size nearly overnight. The center's
Rendition Group is made up of case officers, paramilitaries,
analysts and psychologists.
According to the Post, members of the group follow a simple
but standard procedure: "Dressed head to toe in black,
including masks, they blindfold and cut the clothes off their
new captives, then administer an enema and sleeping drugs.
They outfit detainees in a diaper and jumpsuit for what can
be a day-long trip. Their destinations: either a detention
facility operated by cooperative countries in the Middle East
and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, or one of the CIA's
own covert prisons...which at various times have been operated
in eight countries, including several in Eastern Europe."
The CIA, working with other intelligence agencies, has captured
an estimated 3,000 people since 9/11. There is no tribunal
or judge to check the evidence against those picked up by
the agency. The CIA's inspector general is now investigating
a growing number of what it calls "erroneous renditions."
One official told the Post about three dozen names fall in
that category.
British Tory MP Blasts Extraordinary Rendition, Says
Britain Broke International Law and "Complicit in Torture"
if Flights Passed Through UK
We go to London to speak with Andrew Tyrie, a member of
British parliament with the Tory party. He is chairman of
the recently-formed All Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary
Rendition. [includes rush
transcript]
- Andrew Tyrie, member of British parliament. He is a Tory
MP and chairman of All Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary
Rendition.
Download Briefing
Paper (pdf) on Extraordinary Renditions
Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy Among 13,000 to Sign
Petition Calling for Release of Kidnapped Aid Workers
More than 13,000 people, including Noam Chomsky and Arundhati
Roy, have signed an online petition urging the release of
four peace activists with the Christian Peacemaker Team kidnapped
in Baghdad 10 days ago. We speak with a friend of one of the
captives and we go to Hebron to speak with a correspondent
for Al-Jazeera.net in the Occupied Territories where the CPT
has worked for the past decade. [includes rush
transcript]
More than a week ago, Tom Fox of Clearbrook Virginia, James
Loney of Toronto, Harmeet Singh Sooden of Canada and Norman
Kember of Britain were taken captive in Iraq by a group calling
itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The kidnapped
are members of the humanitarian group The Christian Peacemaker
Teams which is is a non-missionary organization that has been
documenting the abuse of Iraqi detainees and working with
the families of prisoners. The CPT were the first to publicly
denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S.
forces, long before the media revealed what was happening
at Abu Ghraib.
The hostages first appeared in a video broadcast by Al Jazeera
last Tuesday. They have been accused by their captors of being
undercover spies working as Christian peace activists. Last
Friday, Al-Jazeera broadcast another video in which the kidnappers
threatened to kill the four unless all prisoners in US and
Iraqi detention centers were released by December 8th.
Calls have come from all over the world calling for the release
of the hostages. More than 13,000 people including Noam Chomsky
and Arundhati Roy signed an online petition urging their release.
The petition reads in part "They are people who have
dedicated their lives to fighting against war and have clearly
and publicly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq."
The petition is online at the website freethecpt.org.
Last week, The Association of Muslim Scholars, a group of
influential Sunni scholars said that the captives should be
granted their freedom. This group has helped mediate the release
of kidnapped foreigners in the past. And this weekend Members
of the Christian Peace Team working in the West Bank town
of Hebron also called for the release of their colleagues.
- Khalid Amayreh, correspondent for Al-Jazeera.net in the
Occupied Territories of the West Bank. He knows two of the
CPT hostages when they worked in the West Bank.
- Farid Alan Schintzius, friend of Tom Fox from Richmond,
Va.
Website: Christian Peacemaker
Teams
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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