Extraordinary Rendition

[Granite_State]

Just found this as a link at the top of the page while checking my Gmail account, thought it was worth adding here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2982640.ece

AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.

A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.
....
Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects.

The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington.

Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial. Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty hunting and Washington believes it is still legitimate.

[davidbfpo]

Yes, that legal precedent helps secure public support for the Anglo-American relationship. Let alone an amazing extradition agreement between the UK and USA, which is much criticised here, primarily as introduced post-9/11 and yet to be used for such a case. Ever more extra-ordinary when one recalls the US reluctance, nay refusal to extradite to the UK persons suspected to be involved in terrorism in Northern Ireland.

Such legal arrogance now is amazing and only helps our common enemy.

davidbfpo

[marct]

We've had similar problems in Canada, but the "implementation" was usually outsourced. As you say David, it really does only help our common enemy if, for no other reason (and there are other reasons) in that it makes a mockery of "Rule of Law".

[davidbfpo]

A UN report on this practice appeared recently, an advance copy can be found, but is rather large and so this is a link to the UN press release: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...terrorism&Cr1=

Rendition may have appeared in other threads, this was one just located.

[davidbfpo]

An ex-diplomatic cover CIA interpreter interviewed about the Milan rendition, via SWJ Blog:http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/e...thers-1.232616

It starts with:

A former CIA officer has broken the U.S. silence around the 2003 abduction of a radical Islamist cleric in Italy, charging that the agency inflated the threat the preacher posed and that the United States then allowed Italy to prosecute her and other Americans to shield President George W. Bush and other U.S. officials from responsibility for approving the operation.

[davidbfpo]

The Milan incident, a CIA kidnapping has slowly moved through the Portuguese courts and now:

A former undercover CIA officer is to be extradited to Italy following her conviction over the 2003 extraordinary rendition of a terror suspect to Egypt. Sabrina De Sousa, a dual US and Portuguese citizen, was arrested in Portugal last October and has since lost three appeals against being handed over to Italian authorities. Her extradition is scheduled for 4 May.

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...mar-kidnapping


Incidentally Sabrina De Sousa is the person cited as being interviewed in the previous post.