CIA TORTURE: It Was Worse Than Anyone Knew

[grahamhgreen]

35. First, you will agree that rendition = kidnapping, right?

PARLIAMENT of CANADA

PRB 07-48E

Extraordinary Rendition: International Law and the Prohibition of Torture

Laura Barnett
Law and Government Division

Revised 17 July 2008

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Contents

Extraordinary Rendition Defined

Since 11 September 2001, controversy has arisen in the Western world concerning the transfer of detainees from one state to another and the conditions of such transfers. Accusations abound with respect to the harsh interrogation methods used against detainees in some countries, as well as the clandestine nature of some holding centres. As a result, the term “extraordinary rendition” has become a commonly recognized word in the modern lexicon – films have been made, and ongoing debates have taken place in the media, and among politicians and academics. This paper will examine the issue of extraordinary rendition, and attempt to define the term and outline international law prohibitions against it. It will also examine American and Canadian law, highlighting key cases in the United States, Canada and Europe that exemplify how various nations are dealing with the phenomenon in the context of their domestic and international law obligations.

Extraordinary Rendition Defined

States dealing with individuals suspected of terrorist or other criminal activities and that wish to transfer the suspect from one state to another for arrest, detention, or interrogation generally have two broad possibilities available to them: extradition and rendition. Extradition is the technique more commonly used, in which a state surrenders a person within its jurisdiction to another state through a formal legal process outlined in legislation and an extradition treaty.

However, transfers of suspects from one state to another may sometimes take place “extrajudicially” – outside the law. This process is known as “rendition” and generally implies that transferred suspects have no access to the judicial system of the sending state to challenge their transfer. Since 11 September 2001, particular controversy has arisen over allegations of renditions carried out in order that harsh interrogation techniques (torture) prohibited under the sending country’s laws may be applied to the suspect in another country where the laws are less strict.(1) Such transfers are known as “extraordinary renditions.”(2)

International Law Prohibitions Against Torture and Extraordinary Rendition

A. Jus Cogens and the Non-Derogable Nature of the Prohibition of Torture

A number of international conventions outline the explicit prohibition of torture, cruel inhuman and degrading treatment, and rendition to torture. Numerous United Nations monitoring bodies have also declared the practice of extraordinary rendition to be a violation of the international law prohibition against torture.(3)

http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/prb0748-e.htm

Change your mind yet, or are you still on the side of torture?