Rendition is a term coined by the United States Central Intelligence Agency referring to the practice of clandestinely shuttling captured individuals, thought to be enemies of the state of the United States (most often called "terrorists") from one country to another for the purposes of detention, torture, or interrogation. The practice has grown significantly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The CIA was granted permission to use rendition in a presidential directive dating to the Clinton administration, although very few uses were documented during that time.
Human rights groups charge that rendition is violative of the United Nations Convention on Torture because suspects are taken to countries where torture during interrogation remains legal, thus circumventing the protections the captives would enjoy in the United States or other nations in the West. Additionally, many are arrested without charges and deprived of legal counsel.
One jet, a Gulfstream V owned by Premier Executive Transport Services, with tail number N379P, has been reported in numerous countries and airports, and is suspected of playing a key role in ongoing CIA renditions.
External links
- Jet Is an Open Secret in Terror War from the Washington Post, December 27, 2004
- Outsourcing Torture, from The New Yorker, February 7, 2005
- Outsourcing Torture: The Secret History of America's "Extraordinary Rendition" from Democracy Now!, February 17, 2005
- Rule Change Lets C.I.A. Freely Send Suspects Abroad from the New York Times, March 6, 2005
- Rendering Al Qaeda featured on OpinionJournal, March 11, 2005
- Reject the Abuses, Retain the Tactic from the Washington Post, April 17, 2005