Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(April 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views - (without
fear or favor) - of the American Scene
Rendition:
(Anti-terrorism abduction and torture)
Dictionary meaning: Rendering, which comes from the word rend - to tear apart
or split with violence.
How on earth do people come up with this stuff - perhaps they have read the book
by author Len Deighton,"The Ipcress File", published in 1962, or
better still have seen the film starring actor Michael Caine.
In the not too
distant past I wrote, or intended to write, a paragraph about the usage by the
American Central Intelligence Agency of unidentified executive type jet aircraft,
such as Gulfstream G5's, in the abduction and transfer to countries known to
use torture as a method of extracting information from persons suspected of being
associated with terrorist associations and are, or have been, planning terrorist
acts against America and Americans.
Anyway the media have recently reported that
similar aircraft have carried out covert missions, one of which was identified
as being in Stockholm, Sweden, where two Egyptians were arrested by Swedish
police and taken to an airport where they were transferred
to an awaiting unmarked aircraft, identified only by
its "N" tail registration as an American aircraft,
which had a crew wearing black masks and black gloves.
Talk about cloak and
dagger stuff.
The general opinion is that this is not
an isolated incident and that many people who have been
abducted and flown to a country, or countries, known
for using torture as a method of interrogation have met
their death during their incarceration.
The media in recent days have defined modern day torture
as subjecting a person or persons who are alleged terrorists,
or belonging to terrorist groups, to be shackled and
segregated in solitary confinement soundproof cells and
subjected to inhumane torture.
Methods of torture have
been described as the application of extreme changes
in thermal conditions of heat and cold, immersion under
water to a point of drowning, being deprived of oxygen
to a point of suffocation, being subjected to long periods
of extremely loud noise - enough to perforate ear drums,
injection of narcotics substances such as sodium pentathol
which is known as the truth serum drug, deprivation of
sleep, restriction of food and liquids, being subjected
to jolts from high voltage electrical devices, physical
beatings without leaving evidence of bruising or broken
bones.
Apparently some suspects have been sedated and
held prisoner for several months at a time.
A person by the name of Michael Shawyer, who was credited
with setting up the rendition program, was asked in an
interview as to whether he agreed that physical and mental
torture was acceptable in a civilized society, and he
responded by saying that you do the best you can - whatever
that means.
Reports say that since the institution of the rendition
program, there have been a total of some 600 flights
going to as many as 40 different foreign countries. Another
report indicates that records show aircraft based in
North Carolina, (which usually fly to Washington Dulles
Airport before heading overseas), have made at least
30 trips to Jordan, 19 to Afghanistan, 17 to Morocco,
and 16 to Iraq. It has also been reported that other
stops have been made in Egypt, Libya, Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, to name but a few.
Public records showed that the
aircraft were registered as being owned by Premiere Executive
Transport, or Premiere Executive Airlines, but investigations
showed that neither of these airlines existed. Is this
is a case of sloppy intelligence operations as aviation
records can easily be found on the web identifying aircraft
by their tail numbers and aircraft flight plans are readily
available from similar sources?
Accusations have been made that British intelligence
have also been involved in similar incidents, as an unmarked
B737 aircraft with tail number N313P, (or N379P), had
been indicated to have landed in Scotland for refuelling.
What a terrible world of violence we live in, which
has been aptly described as a, "primitive society engaged
in tribal warfare".
Amnesty International apparently have estimated that
as many as 75% of the governments throughout the world
have employed various methods of torture to extract information
from people suspected of being involved in terrorist actions. Certain nations
have also used similar methods of flying suspects to countries that use torture
tactics in order to obtain information.
Then of course we must remember the
medieval torture chambers of the past, which were not so sophisticated as the
torture chambers said to be in existence in the modern day world. One well-known
medieval torture consisted of placing an individual upon a rack and stretching
that person’s body to a point where arms and legs were pulled out of
their sockets.
Can we say that mankind is following in the footsteps of the
degrading paths of their forefathers and have invented much more modern ways
of torturing people.
What’s next in this brave new world, the "rendition"
of local law abiding citizens who are suspected of sedition or unpatriotic
acts and are given the same treatment under the questionable boundaries of
the patriot act?
The question then remains as to whether the end justifies
the means - if many lives are at risk is it acceptable to apply torture in
order to obtain information that may save the many lives at risk?
I have mixed
feelings on the subject - but if I was placed in a position that the lives
of my loved ones, close friends, or thousands of innocent civilians, could
be saved by the extraction of information by whatever means available, I’m
sure that my opinion would be very different, but even so I would have to struggle
with my conscience in order to accept and condone that such actions would have
to be performed in the interests of saving many human lives.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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