The Globalisation of Rendition and Secret Detention
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Kent
Department Name: Sch of Politics & International Relation
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Blakeley R
(2017)
Conducting effective research into state complicity in human rights abuses
in Contemporary Social Science
BLAKELEY R
(2012)
Human rights, state wrongs, and social change: the theory and practice of emancipation
in Review of International Studies
Blakeley R
(2011)
Dirty Hands, Clean Conscience? The CIA Inspector General's Investigation of "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" in the War on Terror and the Torture Debate
in Journal of Human Rights
Blakeley R
(2017)
British torture in the 'war on terror'.
in European journal of international relations
Blakeley R
(2017)
Human rights fact-finding and the CIA's rendition, detention and interrogation programme: A response to Cordell
in International Area Studies Review
Blakeley, R
(2013)
Governing the world? : the practice of global governance
Blakeley, R And Raphael, S
(2016)
The Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies
Blakeley, R And Raphael, S
(2016)
The Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies
Raphael S
(2015)
Tracking rendition aircraft as a way to understand CIA secret detention and torture in Europe
in The International Journal of Human Rights
Ruth Blakeley (Author)
(2012)
Preventing rendition and torture by mapping the global system of rendition and secret detention
Ruth Blakeley (Author)
(2012)
Inter-state terrorism in the 21st century : mapping the evolution of the global rendition system
| Description | The research has found that the global rendition system in the 'War on Terror' has been much more extensive, and much more dynamic, than previously thought. These are the key findings: 1. The UK has been much more involved in rendition than previously thought, through the use of UK airports for rendition operations. 2. A dozen highly suspicious flights by aircraft linked to rendition operations have landed in and taken off from Scottish airports with onward flights to locations where CIA secret prisons were operating at the time. The circuits flown by these aircraft are likely to have been rendition operations. 3. Details of the renditions of certain individuals are confirmed, and therefore their claims about their renditions are substantiated. 4. The global rendition system has been much more extensive and dynamic than previously thought. 5. Changes in rendition practices occurred, 2003-2009, primarily because human rights investigators and journalists began uncovering its workings. 6. The CIA used torture much more widely and brutally against terror suspects than the US Department of Justice had permitted. It has involved the secret detention and torture of hundreds of detainees, sometimes for many years, in scores of detention sites globally. More than twenty states have played an active role in facilitating the operation of this system. The locations of these facilities, the methods of transfer and the interrogation practices have all evolved during the period. These changes can be accounted for primarily as a result of attempts by the US Government to preserve a space outside the bounds of international law - a space which was in flux as human rights investigators, journalists and legal teams began to uncover its workings and challenge its existence. Significant shifts have also occurred during the Obama administrations.The CIA's own detention and interrogation programme was significantly downgraded, then de-authorised in January 2009. The global transfer of detainees stopped. In their place, new forms of detention and interrogation practices have emerged, based upon a 'regionalisation' of rendition and secret detention, a more integrated set of relations with local security forces in key states, and a higher degree of reliance on 'proxy' detention and interrogation. |
| Exploitation Route | The project website, the flight dataset and the accompanying analysis will be of value to human rights organisations and lawyers involved in representing victims of rendition, and in holding states and private companies to account for their roles. The project website (www.therenditionproject.org.uk) contains a comprehensive public repository of primary documents and secondary analysis on rendition and secret detention. It also provides detail historical and contextual information about the global rendition system, and detailed analysis of key elements in this system. The website is therefore a valuable resource for academics, students and human rights organisations interested in developing their understanding of the workings of the global rendition system. The flight dataset developed as part of this project integrates data from more than 40 individual sources to provide a comprehensive account of over 10,000 aircraft movements linked to the CIA's rendition programme. The research team are using this data to further analyse the global rendition system, looking particularly at the states and private companies involved in rendition, and identifying which flights carried specific individuals through the rendition system. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| URL | http://www.therenditionproject.org.uk |
| Description | The Rendition Project research has been used by human rights litigators in cases before the European Court of Human Rights and African Commission, and by NGOs in their investigation and advocacy work. The research has enabled journalists to make claims that could not otherwise be supported about the extent of rendition and torture, particularly the role played by the UK. Legal Submissions Police Scotland Criminal Investigation, multiple, ongoing submissions. Following wide international media coverage of The Rendition Project's findings on the use of Scottish airports for rendition operations, a debate was held in the Scottish parliament, and the Scottish Lord Advocate then instructed a police inquiry into the use of Scottish airports for rendition, which commenced in September 2013, and is on-going. 'Situation of Human Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Guantánamo Naval Base', Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Thematic Hearing, 16 March 2015. Mohammed Abdullah Saleh al-Asad v. Djibouti, African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights, 383/2010, 25 October 2013. Legal/Parliamentary Citations 'Investigating Lithuania's Complicity in the USA's CIA Rendition, Detention and Interrogation Programme', submission to the United Nations Committee Against Torture, Human Rights Monitoring Institute, REDRESS, Reprieve, Amnesty International, Interights, 11 April 2014. 'Request for an Investigation Concerning Suspicion of Criminal Offences Committed in Lithuania Against Mr Mustafa al-Hawsawi', submission to Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania, REDRESS and Human Rights Monitoring Institute, 13 September 2013. 'Application for Victim Status: Mustafa al-Hawsawi', submission to Appellate Prosecutor, Krakow, Poland, REDRESS, 12 November 2013. 'Alleged Transportation and Illegal Detention of Prisoners in European Countries by the CIA', European Parliament resolution 2013/2702(RSP), 10 October 2013. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | Citation: Submission to UN Committee Against Torture |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Description | Evidence to UK Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee Inquiry into Detainee Treatment and Rendition |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Submission to Appellate Prosecutor, Krakow, Poland |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Description | Submission to Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Title | Rendition Flights Database |
| Description | This dataset integrates data from more than 40 individual sources to provide a comprehensive account of over 10,000 aircraft movements linked to the CIA's rendition programme. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | • Following wide international media coverage of The Rendition Project's findings on the use of Scottish airports for rendition operations, a debate was held in the Scottish parliament, and the Scottish Lord Advocate then instructed a police inquiry into the use of Scottish airports for rendition which is on-going. Evidence and statements given to Police Scotland, 7 Nov 2013. • Tailored materials were developed from The Rendition Project Database and Interactive Map for: - Reprieve in a case before the European Court of Human Rights (Abu Zubaydah vs Lithuania); - REDRESS for its work to persuade the government of Lithuania to investigate the rendition of Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The Rendition Project's work was referenced by the European Parliament in the resolution it passed urging Lithuania to investigate on 10 October 2013; - Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU, in a case before the African Commission against Djibouti (al-Asad vs. Djibouti) for its role in their client's rendition (October 2013). |
| URL | http://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/flights/flight-database.html |