CIA torture flights in Scotland

This video from the USA says about itself:

Jun 22, 2008

A protest picket outside the headquarters of Jeppesen Dataplan in San Jose, CA. Jeppesen handles the flight logistics for the CIA’s torture flights.

By Paddy McGuffin on Britain:

Online data exposes Scots torture flights

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Researchers investigating CIA-linked rendition flights in the “war on terror” highlighted today “conclusive” evidence of landings at Scottish airports.

An extensive database on the flights compiled by a university team in collaboration with human rights charity Reprieve referred to 13 stops at Aberdeen, Wick and Inverness.

The database is the work of the Rendition Project based at Kingston and Kent Universities, compiling data from freedom of information requests, legal cases, published first-hand accounts, non-governmental organisations’ investigations and authoritative news reporting to detail dozens of prisoner transfers between secret “black sites.”

An analysis of more than 11,000 flights by over 120 aircraft -linked to more than 50 private companies – reveals the roles of different countries and shows how companies tried to cover their routes by filing false flight plans or by switching aircraft halfway.

Five flights landed at Wick, a further five at Inverness and three at Aberdeen, according to the research.

The north and north-east links were not previously considered “suspicious” by the team but were highlighted for further investigation after details of flight paths emerged.

One aircraft which landed at Wick in 2004 has been “logged flying to secret prison and torture destinations,” the researchers said.

Researcher Dr Raphael told the Press and Journal newspaper: “The Rendition Project database provides conclusive evidence that airports in the north of Scotland were visited by numerous CIA planes at the height of the rendition and secret detention programme.”

A Scottish government spokesman said that responsibility lay with the Westminster government, “which states that permission for rendition flights would only ever be granted if the UK government was satisfied that the rendition would accord with UK laws and our international obligations.

“The Scottish government does not believe such flights could ever be in accordance with domestic or international law and we would not expect such consent to ever be granted.”

A spokeswoman at Aberdeen airport declined to comment.

A recent report by the Constitution Project’s Task Force on Detainee Treatment – chaired by former Bush-era officials – heavily criticised the US programme of rendition and torture, pointing out the key role of European countries. It noted that the “CIA created its own ‘black sites’ in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.”

See also here.

U.S. must admit mistakes; torture is always wrong: here.

Related articles

• ‘Conclusive proof’ CIA torture flights landed at Scottish airports
• US report on Scots role in terror suspect transfer
• Government ‘changing the story’ on rendition flight records

• United States torture flights and Britain (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Scottish airports ‘used for rendition’ (bbc.co.uk)
• Track the CIA’s Secret Rendition Flights with a New Interactive Map (motherboard.vice.com)
• TORTURE LEAGUE; Britain Supported CIA Rendition Torture Flights More Than Thought, Aircraft Landed At British Airports 1622 Times (deadlinelive.info)
• You: UK provided more support for CIA rendition flights than thought – study (guardian.co.uk)