| Extraordinary Redition |
I would like you all to meet Khaled. He is a husband, a father, an ordinary guy, but what happened
to him was not ordinary at all. On December 31, 2003 the life he knew as an ordinary man
changed forever. It was on that cold day he boarded a bus in Ulm, Germany for a holiday in Skopje,
Macedonia. When the bus crossed the border into Macedonia, Macedonian officials confiscated
his passport and detained him for several hours. For reasons unknown to him he was transferred
to a hotel room in Macedonia and held for 23 days. Guarded at all times, the curtains were always
drawn, and he was never permitted to leave the room. Threatened with guns, he was not allowed
to contact anyone. In that room he was repeatedly questioned about his activities in Ulm, his
associates, his mosque, meetings with people that had never occurred, or associations with
people he’d never met. He answered all of their questions truthfully, denying their accusations.
to him was not ordinary at all. On December 31, 2003 the life he knew as an ordinary man
changed forever. It was on that cold day he boarded a bus in Ulm, Germany for a holiday in Skopje,
Macedonia. When the bus crossed the border into Macedonia, Macedonian officials confiscated
his passport and detained him for several hours. For reasons unknown to him he was transferred
to a hotel room in Macedonia and held for 23 days. Guarded at all times, the curtains were always
drawn, and he was never permitted to leave the room. Threatened with guns, he was not allowed
to contact anyone. In that room he was repeatedly questioned about his activities in Ulm, his
associates, his mosque, meetings with people that had never occurred, or associations with
people he’d never met. He answered all of their questions truthfully, denying their accusations.
On January 23, 2004, a group of new Macedonian men entered the hotel room and forced Khaled
to record a video saying he had been treated well and would soon be flown back to Germany. He
was handcuffed, blindfolded, and placed in a car. After a short drive he was taken from the car
and led to a building where he was severely beaten with fist and what felt like a thick stick. His
clothes were cut off his body. When Khaled would not remove his underwear, he was beaten
again until someone forcibly removed them from him. Next he was thrown on the floor, his hands
were pulled behind him, and a foot placed on his back. He felt something firm being forced inside
his anus.
He was dragged across the floor and his blindfold removed. He saw seven or eight men dressed
in black and wearing black ski masks. One of the men placed him in a diaper and a track suit.
Khaled was put in a belt with chains attached to his wrists and ankles, earmuffs were placed over
his ears, eye pads over his eyes, and then blindfolded and hooded. After being dragged to a plane,
he was thrown to the floor face down. He felt two injections, and was rendered nearly
unconscious. When the plane landed at its destination it felt very warm outside, and he knew he
had not been returned to Germany. He was in Afghanistan.
After a short drive, Khaled was dragged out of the car, shoved into a building, thrown to the floor,
and kicked and beaten about the head and on the soles of my feet. Finally he was left in a small,
dirty, cold concrete cell. There was no bed. Only one dirty, military-style blanket and some old,
torn clothes bundled into a thin pillow. Khaled was very thirsty, but there was only a bottle of
putrid water in the cell. He asked but was refused fresh water.
to record a video saying he had been treated well and would soon be flown back to Germany. He
was handcuffed, blindfolded, and placed in a car. After a short drive he was taken from the car
and led to a building where he was severely beaten with fist and what felt like a thick stick. His
clothes were cut off his body. When Khaled would not remove his underwear, he was beaten
again until someone forcibly removed them from him. Next he was thrown on the floor, his hands
were pulled behind him, and a foot placed on his back. He felt something firm being forced inside
his anus.
He was dragged across the floor and his blindfold removed. He saw seven or eight men dressed
in black and wearing black ski masks. One of the men placed him in a diaper and a track suit.
Khaled was put in a belt with chains attached to his wrists and ankles, earmuffs were placed over
his ears, eye pads over his eyes, and then blindfolded and hooded. After being dragged to a plane,
he was thrown to the floor face down. He felt two injections, and was rendered nearly
unconscious. When the plane landed at its destination it felt very warm outside, and he knew he
had not been returned to Germany. He was in Afghanistan.
After a short drive, Khaled was dragged out of the car, shoved into a building, thrown to the floor,
and kicked and beaten about the head and on the soles of my feet. Finally he was left in a small,
dirty, cold concrete cell. There was no bed. Only one dirty, military-style blanket and some old,
torn clothes bundled into a thin pillow. Khaled was very thirsty, but there was only a bottle of
putrid water in the cell. He asked but was refused fresh water.
North Carolina Connection
Aero Contractors is one of the private companies linked to the CIA’s
practice of “extraordinary rendition” flights, or transporting suspects to
countries that are known to actively use torture as an interrogation
technique.
Some of Aero’s flights are from the Kinston Jetport, managed by Global
TransPark Authority, which is funded by the N.C. state government.
Other flights are made from the Johnston County Airport.
The discovery that N.C. hosts a critical link in the CIA’s appalling
system of illegal detentions, disappearance, and torture-by-proxy has
led to the formation of NC Stop Torture Now (NCSTN). The immediate
goal of NCSTN is for the Global TransPark Authority, chaired by
Governor Easley, to comply with N.C. law and request that the State
Bureau of Investigation participate in a thorough investigation of Aero
Contractors and take appropriate action. Despite numerous requests,
the Governor and Global TransPark Authority Board have failed to
comply with NC General Statutes which call for the SBI to investigate
Aero Contractors.
In Virginia, the American Civil Liberties Union argued before the Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals that its lawsuit on behalf of Khaled El-Masri, a
victim of the CIA’s policy of “extraordinary rendition,” should proceed.
Earlier this year a federal district court in Alexandria, VA dismissed El-
Masri’s lawsuit based on the government's argument that allowing it to
proceed would jeopardize state secrets.
Aero Contractors is one of the private companies linked to the CIA’s
practice of “extraordinary rendition” flights, or transporting suspects to
countries that are known to actively use torture as an interrogation
technique.
Some of Aero’s flights are from the Kinston Jetport, managed by Global
TransPark Authority, which is funded by the N.C. state government.
Other flights are made from the Johnston County Airport.
The discovery that N.C. hosts a critical link in the CIA’s appalling
system of illegal detentions, disappearance, and torture-by-proxy has
led to the formation of NC Stop Torture Now (NCSTN). The immediate
goal of NCSTN is for the Global TransPark Authority, chaired by
Governor Easley, to comply with N.C. law and request that the State
Bureau of Investigation participate in a thorough investigation of Aero
Contractors and take appropriate action. Despite numerous requests,
the Governor and Global TransPark Authority Board have failed to
comply with NC General Statutes which call for the SBI to investigate
Aero Contractors.
In Virginia, the American Civil Liberties Union argued before the Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals that its lawsuit on behalf of Khaled El-Masri, a
victim of the CIA’s policy of “extraordinary rendition,” should proceed.
Earlier this year a federal district court in Alexandria, VA dismissed El-
Masri’s lawsuit based on the government's argument that allowing it to
proceed would jeopardize state secrets.
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“Our country’s system of justice, based on the rule of law, is intended to allow everyone their day in
court” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “But here the government seeks to
keep the doors of the courthouse closed to an innocent man who has suffered unthinkable abuse at
the hands of our government. We go to court to fight for his right and the right of us all to petition for
justice.”
El-Masri came to the United States to witness the appeal of the ACLU’s landmark lawsuit on his
behalf, and sat in the courtroom today behind his attorneys. The lawsuit charges former CIA director
George Tenet, other CIA officials, and U.S.-based aviation corporations with violations of United
States and universal human rights laws. El-Masri was on vacation in Macedonia when he was
kidnapped, abused and rendered to a CIA-run “black site” in Afghanistan. After several months of
confinement in squalid conditions, he was flown from Afghanistan and abandoned on a hill in Albania
with no explanation, never having been charged with a crime.
The ACLU argued that the government is invoking the state secrets privilege to avoid accountability for
the abuses it perpetrated against El-Masri rather than to protect sensitive national security interests.
Based on official recognition of the rendition program and the volume of information on its
widespread use both generally and specifically in relation to El-Masri, the ACLU argued that allowing
El-Masri to litigate his claims further will not harm national security.
“I have come to America seeking three things,” said El-Masri. “An acknowledgement that the United
States government is responsible for kidnapping, abusing and detaining me; an explanation as to
why I was singled out for this treatment; and an apology because I am an innocent man who has
never been charged with any crime.”
In September, 2006, President Bush publicly acknowledged the widely reported fact that the CIA has
operated a secret prison system outside of the United States and outside the requirements of U.S.
and international law.
court” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “But here the government seeks to
keep the doors of the courthouse closed to an innocent man who has suffered unthinkable abuse at
the hands of our government. We go to court to fight for his right and the right of us all to petition for
justice.”
El-Masri came to the United States to witness the appeal of the ACLU’s landmark lawsuit on his
behalf, and sat in the courtroom today behind his attorneys. The lawsuit charges former CIA director
George Tenet, other CIA officials, and U.S.-based aviation corporations with violations of United
States and universal human rights laws. El-Masri was on vacation in Macedonia when he was
kidnapped, abused and rendered to a CIA-run “black site” in Afghanistan. After several months of
confinement in squalid conditions, he was flown from Afghanistan and abandoned on a hill in Albania
with no explanation, never having been charged with a crime.
The ACLU argued that the government is invoking the state secrets privilege to avoid accountability for
the abuses it perpetrated against El-Masri rather than to protect sensitive national security interests.
Based on official recognition of the rendition program and the volume of information on its
widespread use both generally and specifically in relation to El-Masri, the ACLU argued that allowing
El-Masri to litigate his claims further will not harm national security.
“I have come to America seeking three things,” said El-Masri. “An acknowledgement that the United
States government is responsible for kidnapping, abusing and detaining me; an explanation as to
why I was singled out for this treatment; and an apology because I am an innocent man who has
never been charged with any crime.”
In September, 2006, President Bush publicly acknowledged the widely reported fact that the CIA has
operated a secret prison system outside of the United States and outside the requirements of U.S.
and international law.
| After a day of interrogation by several clothing and ski masks, he was stripped of his clothes, photographed , and forced to give blood and urine samples. He was retuned to his cell and remained in solitary confinement, without once being allowed outside to men dressed in the same black breathe fresh air for over four months. Throughout his confinement he was interrogated several times, always by the same man, with others who were dressed in black clothing and ski masks, and always at night. Khaled was threatened, insulted, and shoved. The man interrogated Khaled about whether he’d taken a trip to Jalalabad using a false passport; whether he had attended Palestinian training camps; and whether he knew September 11 conspirators or other alleged extremists. As in Macedonia, he denied their accusations. The two men who participated in his interrogations identified themselves as Americans. All requests to meet with a representative of the German government, a lawyer, or to be brought before a court, were repeatedly ignored. |
| KHALID El-MASRI |
victim of the American CIA and a casualty of its policy called “extraordinary rendition.” It is the practice of abducting “suspects” and secretly transporting them to countries where torture is permissible or routine. You could have been Khaled, but you weren’ t, at least not that time! |
