Rendition programs set to remain in place
February 3, 2009 by Personal Liberty News Desk
Although President Obama has announced the closure of the Guantanamo Bay camp, it appears that the CIA will still be able to use special techniques in handling terrorist suspects.
The executive order signed by Obama last month does not ban the so called "extraordinary rendition" programs. However, the issue appears to be less controversial than it seems, according to numerous press reports.
They quote an anonymous Obama administration official as saying that the government needs some means "to go after the bad guys."
At the same time, officials are at pains to stress that the administration has created a task force to reexamine the practice, which has drawn fire from many quarters at home and abroad, to make sure that they do not result in detainees being tortured or having their human rights infringed upon.
Tom Malinowski, the Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch told the Chicago Tribune, "Under limited circumstances, there is a legitimate place" for these types of practices provided that there is a system in place to prevent abuses.
The extraordinary rendition practice, authorized by former President George W. Bush, includes provisions for detention and interrogation of terrorist suspects in third countries.
An investigation by the European Parliament, which strongly condemned the practice, found that the CIA had operated more than 1,200 flights in European airspace after 9/11.
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