Amnesty International Accuses US of "Secret Flights to Torture and 'Disappearance'"

Amnesty International Accuses US of "Secret Flights to Torture and 'Disappearance'"

Posted by Sonja in US Foreign Policy, Transatlantic Relations on Monday, May 22. 2006

Secret detention and "disappearances" of dissidents and political opponents are something that only happen in evil, undemocratic countries in South-or central America, right? Wrong. It happens on behalf of the United States all over the world, including Europe, says amnesty international USA. In a report dated April 5, 2006, the US is accused of "rendition" and "disappearance". Rendition, as defined by the human rights organization, is "the transfer of individuals from one country to another, by means that bypass all judicial and administrative due process." The number of cases appear to be in the hundreds, and "every one of the victims of rendition interviewed by Amnesty International has described incidents of torture and other ill-treatment." In addition, the USA has acknowledged the capture of about 30 "high value" detainees whose whereabouts remain unknown. While before September 11, 2001, the rendition program was mainly intended to render terrorist suspects to the United States for trial, since the "War on Terror" it seems to be aiming more and more to deny detainees access to American courts. New Directives implemented under the Bush administration remain classified, but are said to give the CIA and the other 15 members of the American "intelligence community" the power to capture and hold terrorist suspects.
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