Alkarama condemns Arab government complicity in criminal renditions
08 Jun 2006
Alkarama, June 8, 2006
The release of the Council of Europe report on 7th June 2006 by Rappoteur Dick Marty of Switzerland revealed damning evidence of international complicity in criminal renditions that have been taking place. There is no legal or legitimate process of rendition under International Law and thus any transfer of detainees outside of the legal process of extradition must be considered to be a criminal act.
In the Council of Europe report it has been shown that airports in Rabat, Algiers, Cairo, Amman and Baghdad have been used in order to transfer detainees to other prisons, often secret prisons where they have been held unlawfully. The torture of Binyam Mohammed Al Habashi in Morocco is just one example of the way in which Arab States have been completely complicit in not only the renditions, but also the torture and abuse in the so-called ‘War on Terror’. This is only further highlighted when considering the kidnapping of Abu Omar from Italy by the CIA and subsequent rendering to an Egyptian prison despite all assurances to the contrary.
What is most worrying regarding this unholy alliance between the United States and her Arab allies, is that the new friendship is one very much based on a mutual understanding that they will help hide the illegality of their counterparts. Whereas the US would traditionally condemn the Arab Torture States for their poor human rights records, now they are being used as allies in order to extract information through torture by proxy. What this will lead to is complete impunity for those Arab countries as they will be given a free rein to further suppress their people as they please.
What is most worrying regarding this unholy alliance between the United States and her Arab allies, is that the new friendship is one very much based on a mutual understanding that they will help hide the illegality of their counterparts. Whereas the US would traditionally condemn the Arab Torture States for their poor human rights records, now they are being used as allies in order to extract information through torture by proxy. What this will lead to is complete impunity for those Arab countries as they will be given a free rein to further suppress their people as they please.