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Help Stop the Practice of Extraordinary Renditions

Amnesty International is concerned by the practice of “extraordinary renditions” in which the United States is transferring individuals for interrogation to countries with a record of using torture. U.S. laws and international treaties prohibit the transfer of suspects to countries where they are likely to face torture. Nonetheless, the U.S. Government is reported to have sent or been complicit in sending individuals to countries such as Jordan, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Syria, and Egypt – all countries the U.S. has criticized for practicing torture. The U.S. Government has not offered a public definition of “extraordinary renditions” nor has it provided public disclosure about this practice. The practice of “extraordinary renditions” is cloaked in secrecy, making it difficult to know how many individuals are affected. Detainees have been denied legal recourse to challenge their detention or prevent their transfer to a country where they may be tortured. There has been little accountability. Congress must act to ensure compliance with U.S. law and protection of basic human rights.

“Extraordinary renditions” contravene U.S. law and international treaties. The United States ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and adopted legislation to help implement the treaty obligations through the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (“FARRA”). The Torture Convention prohibits nations from deporting persons to a country where it is more likely than not that s/he will be tortured. FARRA states:

“It shall be the policy of the United States not to expel, extradite, or otherwise effect the involuntary return of any person to a country in which there are substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, regardless of whether the person is physically present in the United States.”

Recently, the UN Committee Against Torture did its periodic review of the United States’ compliance with its treaty obligations under the Torture Convention. The Committee found that the practice of transferring individuals to countries with a record of torture without any judicial oversight was a violation of the convention. In its report, the Committee Against Torture stated: “The State party should apply the non-refoulement guarantee to all detainees in its custody, cease the rendition of suspects, in particular by its intelligence agencies, to States where they face a real risk of torture, in order to comply with its obligations under article 3 of the Convention.”

The case of Mahar Arar brought public attention to “extraordinary renditions.” U.S. authorities detained Arar, a Canadian citizen of Syrian descent, at New York’s JFK airport where he was in transit to Canada. He was detained and interrogated in the United States for several days and denied access to counsel and family. He was flown to Jordan against his will where he reports being beaten during detention. Arar was then forcibly transferred to Syria where he was held for ten months and reportedly tortured. Canadian officials secured his release and he now resides with his family in Canada. The Arar case raises many questions about how the decision was made to deport him to Syria, even though he traveled on his Canadian passport and expressed fear of torture if returned to Syria.

Several other similar cases have since been reported. Swedish authorities are investigating the US capture and transfer of two men, Ahmed Agiza and Muhammed al-Zery, to Egypt where were both were allegedly tortured with electric devices. Additionally, Germany and Italy are pursuing criminal investigations: German citizen, Khaled el-Masri, was taken from a bus in Macedonia and allegedly abducted by the CIA. German prosecutors say they have confirmed parts of el-Masri’s story that he was taken to an American prison in Afghanistan, deprived of water, and interrogated for five months before being told that there had been a case of mistaken identity and left in Albania. Italian prosecutors investigating the CIA’s involvement in the kidnapping of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr have issued arrest warrants for 22 CIA agents charged with kidnapping Mr. Nasr. Mr. Nasr was reportedly kidnapped in Milan, sprayed in the face, forced into a van and taken to Egypt where he was tortured. His current whereabouts are unknown.

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