APPG News
UK Government Argues that Belhaj Rendition Case Should Not Be Heard in Court
Lawyers for the Government argued that Mr Belhaj's case against MI5, MI6 and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw should be thrown out of court because any unlawful act did not take place in the UK. A witness for the FCO also testified that allowing the case to proceed could harm relations with other countries. Belhaj, a Libyan dissident under Qaddafi's regime, and his then-pregnant wife, Fatima Bouchar, were rendered from Bangkok to Tripoli, where he was tortured. More can be read here.
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden Discusses Rendition Programme
At a Heny Jackson Society event held on 30 September 2013, former CIA Director Michael Hayden reflected on the extraordinary rendition programme and its consequences. The full transcript of the talk can be found here.
Former Top CIA lawyer Admits That CIA Gave Inadequate and Inaccurate Information to Congressional Oversight Committees on Rendition Programme
Stephen Preston, former General Counsel of the CIA, also acknowledged that it is possible to determine whether legal alternatives to burtal interrogations of detainees would have produced the same intelligence. More can be read here.
Libyan national seeks to hold UK Government accountable for its role in his 2004 rendition
The civil case brought by Libyan dissident Abdul Hakim Belhaj and his wife Fatima Bouchar concerning their 2004 rendition, which involved the CIA and MI6, brings claims of false imprisonment, conspiracy to cause injury, abuse of public office and negligence against the Government, MI6 and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. More can be read here.
Abu Anas al-Libi Rendered to New York to Stand Trial
Al Libi, who was captured by US special forces on 5 October 2013, is expected to stand trial in federal court over whether he helped plan and conduct surveillance for the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. US intelligence officials interrogated al-Libi for a week aboard the USS San Antonio in the Mediterranean Sea. Under President Obama, interrogations at sea have replaced CIA black sites for holding suspected terrorists and questioning them without access to lawyers. More can be read here.
A look at US Interrogation Practices of Al-Qaeda Suspects
The New York Times examines the practices likely employed under President Obama's interrogation policies to question al-Qaeda suspect Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai (aka Abu Anas al-Libi), who was captured by American forces in Libya. More can be read here.