Charity condemns Obama policy backing rendition [View All]

[IndianaGreen]

Charity condemns Obama policy backing rendition

Tuesday 01 September 2009
by Paddy McGuffin

British legal action charity Reprieve has condemned a stealth announcement by the Obama administration that the abduction and torture of suspects will continue under its "extraordinary renditions" programme.

The announcement was made, with little fanfare, on the day a report into CIA torture methods was finally published.

The US government said the practice of abducting suspects and shipping them to countries which routinely practice torture would continue, but that it would "monitor" all cases "to ensure suspects are not mistreated."

These assurances hold little water with human rights campaigners. A number of British citizens and residents have been kidnapped, detained and tortured under the renditions programme.

Reprieve, which represents a number of victims of rendition and torture including British resident Binyam Mohamed, described the US announcement as a "major blow to global human rights and the fight against torture."

A spokeswoman for the charity said: "Far more than just a prisoner transfer system, rendition is the key to understanding how the US was able to get away with creating a full-blown torture programme and a global system of legal apartheid.

"Sadly, if rendition is indeed used under President Obama, the administration will undoubtedly be responsible for more torture and illegal detention for years to come."

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/Charity-condemns-Obama-policy-backing-rendition