guardian | The full extent of the CIA's extraordinary rendition
programme has been laid bare with the publication of a report showing
there is evidence that more than a quarter of the world's governments
covertly offered support.
A 213-page report compiled by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a New York-based human rights organisation, says that at least 54 countries co-operated with the global kidnap, detention and torture operation that was mounted after 9/11, many of them in Europe.
So
widespread and extensive was the participation of governments across
the world that it is now clear the CIA could not have operated its
programme without their support, according to the OSJI.
"There is
no doubt that high-ranking Bush administration officials bear
responsibility for authorising human rights violations associated with
secret detention and extraordinary rendition, and the impunity that they
have enjoyed to date remains a matter of significant concern," the
report says.
"But responsibility for these violations does not end with the United States.
Secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations, designed to be
conducted outside the United States under cover of secrecy, could not
have been implemented without the active participation of foreign
governments. These governments too must be held accountable."
