Extraordinary Rendition

One of the nastier effects of the ‘war on terror’ is extraordinary rendition. A term coined by the CIA where a terrorist suspect is handed over to another country where torture is permitted. This usually happens in a secret disclosed prison. “Extraordinary rendition” was only ever used in extraordinary cases however after 9/11, matters worsened.

The United States is known as the land of the free, where citizens can go about their business doing as they please. However, if you happen to be of middle-eastern descent, this isn’t the case. The US can detain whomever they please without any formal charges. One day you could be on a flight heading home to New York City and the next, you’re in Syria being tortured and interrogated about subjects unknown to you. No one would know where you are. This is exactly what happened to Maher Arar. On a connection flight back to Canada, Arar was detained by US officials at JFK airport on suspicion of having had contact with Al Qaeda members. His records were deleted to seem as though he had never entered the US. He then was sent to Syria to be tortured for a year before being released without charges. He was tortured, endured immense amount of psychological pain and was detained in what was “likened to a grave.” He was released after the Canadian government took his case.

Cases like these have occurred more frequently after 9/11 and frankly, the US is one giant hypocrite. As President Bush quoted in 2005, “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.” Little does he fail to mention anything related to “extraordinary rendition.” Just because the detainees are being tortured and interrogated in another country doesn’t mean that the US isn’t responsible for it. What about Guantanamo Bay? Why do you think the US send prisoners to be kept at Guantanamo Bay? “The policy of the United States is not to expel, extradite, or otherwise affect 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.” The CIA clearly disregards this law when sending suspected terrorists off to torture prisons in Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Jordan.

The CIA gives reasons for “extraordinary rendition,”; it exposes the suspect to aggressive methods of persuasion that is illegal in the US. By slowly breaking down a suspect both physically and psychologically, you can save thousands of lives by capturing and interrogating these terrorists. However they fail to regard the many people who are wrongly detained. Considering that the United States is supposedly ‘the land of free’, they should practice what they preach.