What exactly is Rendition, Extraordinary Rendition and Irregular Rendition?
Extraordinary Rendition refers to the practice of transporting terrorist suspects from the country where they are captured to their home country or
to other countries where they can be questioned or held for the purpose of gathering intelligence or to face trial.
Its use by the United States expanded dramatically following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Foreign nationals suspected of terrorism have been
transported to detention and interrogation facilities maintained by the United States or foreign governments in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Diego Garcia,
Afghanistan, Guantánamo, and elsewhere.
The practice has become highly controversial, with proponents describing it as a vital tool in combating transnational terrorism and critics terming it unethical and unconstitutional. What follows is a sampling of other edited definitions and their sources.
SOURCEWATCH.COM:
Extraordinary rendition is the CIA activity of “transferring” or “flying captured terrorist suspects from one country to another for detention and interrogation” without… “formal legal proceedings.”
WIKIPEDIA:
In law, rendition is a “surrender” or “handing over” of persons or property, particularly from one jurisdiction to another. For criminal suspects, extradition is the most common type of rendition. Rendition can also be seen as the act of handing over, after the request for extradition has taken place.
Rendition can also mean the act of rendering, i.e. delivering, a judicial decision, or of explaining a series of events, as a defendant or witness. It can also mean the execution of a judicial order by the directed parties. But extraordinary rendition is legally distinct from both deportation and extradition.
Extraordinary rendition and irregular rendition are terms used to describe the extrajudicial transfer of a person from one state to another… critics accuse the United States government, in particular the the CIA, of rendering hundreds of people… to third-party states such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, and Uzbekistan. Such “ghost detainees” are kept outside of judicial oversight, often without ever entering US territory, and may or may not ultimately be devolved to the custody of the United States.
ACLU:
… the Central Intelligence Agency, together with other U.S. government agencies, has utilized an intelligence-gathering program involving the transfer of foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism to detention and interrogation in countries where — in the CIA’s view — federal and international legal safeguards do not apply. Suspects are detained and interrogated either by U.S. personnel at U.S.-run detention facilities outside U.S. sovereign territory or, alternatively, are handed over to the custody of foreign agents for interrogation. In both instances, interrogation methods are employed that do not comport with federal and internationally recognized standards. This program is commonly known as “extraordinary rendition.”
Administration officials, backed by Department of Justice legal memoranda, have consistently advanced the position that foreign nationals held at such facilities, outside U.S. sovereign territory, are unprotected by federal or international laws. Thus, the rendition program has allowed agents of the United States to detain foreign nationals without any legal process and, primarily through counterparts in foreign intelligence agencies, to employ brutal interrogation methods that would be impermissible under federal or international law, as a means of obtaining information from suspects.
From www.renditionmovie.com:
“Extraordinary Rendition refers to the practice of transporting terrorist suspects from the country where they are captured to their home country or to other countries where they can be questioned or held for the purpose of gathering intelligence or to face trail.
It’s use by the US expanded dramatically following the attacks of Sept.11, 2001. Foreign nationals suspected of terrorism have been transported to detention and interogation facilities maintained by the US or foreign govornments…”
