CIA Extraordinary Rendition

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Lore & Background

Within the series narrative, rendition sites are often portrayed as isolated facilities where standard laws do not apply. The source notes that under the Bush administration, rendered persons were reported to have undergone torture by receiving countries. Journalists, civil and constitutional rights groups, and former detainees have alleged that this occurred with the knowledge or cooperation of the administrations of the United States and the United Kingdom. A June 2006 report estimated that 100 people had been kidnapped by the CIA on European Union soil with the cooperation of Council of Europe members and rendered to other countries, often after having transited through secret detention centers ("black sites"), some located in Europe. According to a separate European Parliament report of February 2007, the CIA has conducted 1,245 flights, many of them to destinations where suspects could face torture, in violation of Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture. In July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights condemned the government of Poland for participating in CIA extraordinary rendition, ordering Poland to pay restitution to men who had been abducted, taken to a CIA black site in Poland, and tortured. Torture is banned under the European Convention on Human Rights, which 46 nations, including Poland, have pledged to uphold.

In Their Own Story

The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting long shadows across the concrete floor. Carrie stared at the dossier, her fingers tracing the redacted lines where a location name should have been. It was another black site, another ghost in the system. She thought of Brody, and wondered how many men like him had walked out of rooms just like this one, broken by hands that never signed their names. The silence of the room felt heavy, judging her for knowing too much.

Reader's Guide

The series draws heavily from post-September eleventh policies regarding detainee transfer. The source states that between 2001 and 2005, CIA officers captured an estimated one hundred fifty people and transported them around the world. Real-world extraordinary rendition involved moving suspects to nations with lax human rights laws for interrogation. The source notes that the Bush administration freely admitted to this practice, stating they had specifically asked that torture not be used, but that torture can still occur despite these provisions. A 2018 report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament found the United Kingdom, specifically MI5 and MI6, to be complicit in many of the renditions carried out by the U.S., by helping to fund them, by supplying intelligence, and by knowingly allowing the abductions to happen. Within days of his 2009 inauguration, Barack Obama signed an executive order opposing rendition torture and established a task force to provide recommendations about processes to prevent rendition torture. His administration distanced itself from some of the harshest counterterrorism techniques but permitted the practice of rendition to continue, restricting transport of suspects to countries with jurisdiction over them for the purpose of prosecution after diplomatic assurances "that they [would] not be treated inhumanely" had been received.

Did You Know?

• Extraordinary rendition began under the administration of President Bill Clinton and continued under President George W. Bush, which abducted hundreds of "illegal combatants" for U.S. detention.
• A June 2006 report estimated that 100 people had been kidnapped by the CIA on European Union soil with the cooperation of Council of Europe members.
• According to a February 2007 European Parliament report, the CIA conducted 1,245 flights, many to destinations where suspects could face torture.
• In July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Poland for participating in CIA extraordinary rendition, ordering restitution for men tortured at a CIA black site in Poland.
• A 2018 report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament found MI5 and MI6 complicit in many U.S. renditions by funding them, supplying intelligence, and knowingly allowing the abductions.