Extraordinary Rendition - Research Paper Example

and its conspiratorial partners. Although clearly illegal under international law, both Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush used kidnapping where normal extradition was unavailable to bring fugitives to trial. “The Supreme Court upheld the government's power to prosecute people who were seized in these abductions and kidnappings irrespective of their legality under international law in the 1992 case of United States v. Alvarez-Machain.” (Lobel 1). Not until 911, however, under President George W.

Bush, did the process shift from law enforcement to a “preventative” measure, and the new policy of extraordinary rendition sent “individuals to countries not for the purpose of trial, but rather to gather intelligence about future wrongdoing through unlawful detentions and coercive interrogation” (Lobel 1). The estimated number of incidents has been assessed by the CIA as in the “mid-range two figures.” Based on facts stated by Grey on Frontline in 2011, this number is probably an underestimate considering “Many renditions organized by the CIA involved the help not only of other U.S. agencies, such as the Pentagon, but the practical assistance of other countries, such as Egypt and Syria” (Grey no. 6). It is safe then to assume that rendition is not an operation of the CIA alone.

Information gathered suggests it is operated through a series of interconnected governmental agencies, private operatives, such as now famous Blackwater, and private companies including Boeing Aircraft, which, through a subsidiary, “’offers everything needed for efficient’ spanning the globe” (Mayer par 1). The U.S. program prompted several official investigations in Europe into alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers involving Council of Europe member states. Charges were filed against such actions based on article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture cites the COE’s responsibility as “guardian for human rights, democracy and respect for the rule of law in Europe,” citing its “….

numerous and systematic human rights abuses committed in the pursuit of the so-called “war on terrorism” (UN Resolution 1507 par. 1 & 3). British collusion in the process is clear in the case of a Pakistani rice merchant held for over six years at Bagram airbase, infamously known to human rights campaigners as “Guantanamo's evil twin”(Rose par 9). As Rose in his December 9, 2009 article in the Mail reports, a rice merchant was held without charges for six years after disappearing on a business trip to Iran.

Crossing into Iraq he was captured by the British who handed him over to the Americans, countering British insistence that it does not take part in such activities. Additional evidence is suggested by a cable from the British requesting specific information on all intelligence flights to determine whether they “might put the UK at risk of being complicit in unlawful acts (i.e. the ferrying of prisoners through British territories)” (U.S. Embassy Cables par 1). Beyond the immediate EU member states, a web of collusion is also suggested, as one Pakistani prisoner subjected to torture by his Egyptian captors states that the “chief of Egyptian security informed him that Egypt receives $10