The CIA is engaging in an unlawful practice – "extraordinary rendition" – abducting foreign nationals for detention and interrogation in secret overseas prisons. "Extraordinary rendition" must be stopped before more victims are targeted. Americans cannot tolerate kidnappings and secret prisons.
El-Masri v. Tenet
Having failed in its efforts to seek redress before domestic courts, on April 9, 2008, the ACLU filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Khaled El-Masri's behalf. Khaled El-Masri, an innocent German citizen who was a victim of the government's unlawful rendition program, seeks public acknowledgement of what was done to him by U.S. officials and an apology from them. In this petition, the ACLU asks that the Commission declare that the "extraordinary rendition" program violates universal human rights guarantees including the right of everyone to be free from forced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture. The petition is pending determination.
Although the story of Mr. El-Masri's mistaken kidnapping and detention at the hands of the CIA is known throughout the world, his lawsuit was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after the government invoked the so-called "state secrets" privilege. That decision was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case lets that decision stand.
"[The Bush] Administration has invoked the state secrets privilege not to protect national security, but to protect itself from embarrassment and accountability," said ACLU attorney Ben Wizner, who argued El-Masri's case before the Fourth Circuit in November 2006. "Mr. El-Masri's case should be a powerful reminder that when our government abandons the rule of law, innocent victims suffer the consequences."
The history-making lawsuit charges that former CIA Director George Tenet violated U.S. and universal human rights laws when he authorized agents to abduct Mr. El-Masri, beat him, drug him, and transport him to a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan. The corporations that owned and operated the airplanes used to transport Mr. El-Masri are also named in the case. The CIA continued to hold Mr. El-Masri incommunicado in the notorious "Salt Pit" prison in Afghanistan long after his innocence was known. Five months after his abduction, Mr. El-Masri was deposited at night, without explanation, on a hill in Albania. More >>
RESOURCES
> Innocent Victim Of CIA Extraordinary Rendition Program Takes Case To International Tribunal (4/9/2008)
> Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (4/9/2008)
> Video: OUTLAWED (Witness)
> FAQ: The Convention Against Torture (4/26/2006)
> Statement: Khaled El-Masri (12/06/2005)
More Resources >>
Khaled El-Masri speaks to reporters outside US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Watch the Press Conference on You Tube (off-site) >>
Mohamed et al. v. Jeppesen
In 2007, the ACLU brought a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan, Inc. for their role in the extraordinary rendition of five men, all foreign nationals, who were apprehended and forcibly disappeared to foreign and U.S.-run prisons overseas where they were detained and tortured. The suit charges that Jeppesen knowingly participated in the extraordinary rendition program by providing critical flight planning and logistical support services to aircraft and crews used by the CIA to forcibly disappear these five men to detention and interrogation. Senior Jeppesen officials have openly acknowledged that the company was involved in and profiting from what one of them termed "torture flights." Shortly after the suit was filed, the government intervened to try and block the litigation by inappropriately asserting the "state secrets privilege," claiming further litigation would undermine national security interests, even though much of the evidence needed to try the case was already available to the public. The case was dismissed in February 2008, and the ACLU is appealing the dismissal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. More >>
Bisher al-Rawi
RESOURCES
> New York Times Editorial: Unraveling Injustice (2/5/2009)
> ACLU attorney Ben Wizner discusses rendition case with Glenn Greenwald on Salon Radio
> Reply Brief of Plaintiffs-Appellants
> Statement by former Jeppesen Employee
> Appeal Brief
> Legal Complaint
> Channel 4 (UK) interview with rendition victim Bisher al-Rawi (off-site)
> Biography of Bisher al-Rawi
> Biography of Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah
> The C.I.A.'s Travel Agent (Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, Oct. 30, 2006) (off-site)
More >>
Watch the video on YouTube (off-site) >>
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Related Issues
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Court CaseNov 2018
National Security
Khaled El-Masri v. United StatesKhaled El-Masri v. United States
In a history-making lawsuit, the ACLU challenged the CIA on behalf of Khaled El-Masri, an entirely innocent victim of rendition who was released without ever being charged. -
Court CaseNov 2011
National Security
Mohamed et al. v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.Mohamed et al. v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.
During the Bush administration, the practice of "extraordinary rendition" was used to apprehend and detain foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism. The suspect would be arrested and secretly transferred to prisons run by foreign intelligence agencies in countries know to torture, or to CIA-run "black sites." -
Press ReleaseNov 2009
National Security
Human Rights
Italian Court Finds Americans Guilty In CIA Rendition CaseItalian Court Finds Americans Guilty In CIA Rendition Case
U.S. Should Pursue Accountability For Rendition Crimes, Says ACLU FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org NEW YORK – An Italian court today convicted 23 Americans for the "extraordinary rendition" of a Muslim cleric who was kidnapped in Milan in 2003. The case is the first of its kind to hold Americans accountable for the rendition of terrorism suspects overseas. The American Civil Liberties Union calls on the U.S. to hold those involved in the illegal rendition and torture of detainees accountable for their actions. "The decision in Italy underscores the need for the United States to hold its own officials accountable for crimes committed under the 'extraordinary rendition' program. It is shameful that the first convictions of this kind came from a foreign justice system, where those convicted are not likely to serve their time," said Steven Watt, staff attorney for the ACLU Human Rights Program. "The U.S. judicial system must provide similar measures of accountability to hold those who committed crimes in the names of the American people responsible for their actions and provide victims of torture with access to justice." The three-year trial in Milan ended in the conviction of Americans – mostly CIA agents – in the kidnapping of Hassan Moustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar. Abu Omar was seized on the streets of Milan in 2003 and held in U.S. military bases in Italy and Germany, before being transferred to Egypt, where he claimed he was tortured. After four years in detention, he was released without charge. The Americans were tried in absentia, and all but one was given a five-year sentence. Former Milan CIA station chief Robert Seldon Lady was sentenced to eight years in prison. Three other Americans were given diplomatic immunity and acquitted. Two Italians were convicted as accomplices to kidnapping. Earlier this week, a rendition lawsuit brought against U.S. government officials by Canadian citizen Maher Arar was dismissed by a U.S. Court of Appeals which found it could interfere with national security interests and damage U.S. relations with other countries. Last week, a federal appeals court announced that it will hear the government's appeal of an earlier ruling that allowed an ACLU lawsuit to go forward against a Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen DataPlan Inc., for its role in the "extraordinary rendition" program. For more information, please visit: www.aclu.org/national-security/torture