CIA chief receives jail term for kidnapping in Europe

lightspeed

Just read the below and im quite shocked how the USA can kidnap citizens in Europe for torture with very little noise being made about it.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/02/201322045566149.html

"Jail term for ex-CIA Rome chief

Three American officials sentenced in absentia for their role in kidnapping an Egyptian man in 2003.
Last Modified: 02 Feb 2013 00:52

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A former CIA station chief in Italy received a seven-year jail sentence on Friday for his role in the kidnapping of an Egyptian Muslim cleric in 2003.

A Milan appeals court also handed down two six-year sentences to two American officials for the same crime, the first of the so-called "extraordinary renditions" organised by the United States.

The cleric, an Egyptian imam known as Abu Omar, was snatched from a Milan street and flown to Egypt for interrogation, where he says he was tortured for seven months. He was resident in Italy at the time of the abduction.

Former Rome station chief Jeffrey Castelli and the two other defendants were tried in absentia and are unlikely to serve their sentences, but they will be unable to travel to Europe without risking arrest.

The CIA declined a request for comment.

'Deeply implicated in the rendition'

Castelli was among 26 US nationals indicted by Italian authorities for their involvement in the 2003 kidnap. The judgment overturned a previous ruling by a lower court, which acquitted the three on grounds of diplomatic immunity. Last September Italy's highest court upheld guilty verdicts on 22 CIA officers and one Air Force pilot for the kidnapping.

In that case, all of the Americans were sentenced to seven years in jail, except former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady, who was handed a nine-year sentence.

The new ruling may boost attempts to shed light on the CIA tactics during George W. Bush's presidency, and was welcomed by human rights group Amnesty International.

"Many European governments are deeply implicated in the rendition and secret detention programme and any court attempting to find out the truth about these practices is welcomed," said Julia Hall, Amnesty's expert on counterterrorism and human rights.

In December a landmark European Court of Human Rights ruling found a German car salesman, Khaled El-Masri, was an innocent victim of torture and abuse by US authorities, and condemned the CIA "rendition" programme that seized him in Macedonia and secretly flew him to Afghanistan for interrogation.

In 2007 the European Parliament found at least 1,245 CIA flights were made into or over Europe in the four years after the September 11 attacks on the United States".

I sincerely hope that the Irish government did not facilitate such rendition flights through Shannon airport. The USA has yet again got some brass neck dictating about human rights abuse in other countries.

keith16

Rendition flights are good for the local economy, keep em coming I say!

Biggins

American agencies under Bush and Cheney were given carte blanch it seems to do what the hell they like and push the boundaries (if not break them) of international law.
I suspect that the above OP case is only a tiny tip of a large iceberg - details on which we will never see or hear of.

lightspeed

Biggins wrote: »

American agencies under Bush and Cheney were given carte blanch it seems to do what the hell they like and push the boundaries (if not break them) of international law.
I suspect that the above OP case is only a tiny tip of a large iceberg - details on which we will never see or hear of.

Well i would imagine they are definitely in violation of international law. Surely it cant be legal to go to another country, kidnap a citizen and then ship them off abroad for torture in some isolated camp. It sad to see the americans copying Adolf Hitler's playbook and even sadder to see why this is not much more of a widespread explosive issue. Unless im quite late in noticing this story, it seems like its barely made a headline.

7 7 12

I personally believe in the extraction of sensitive information by "forceful" means, if it results in saving innocent lives.

Amirani

7 7 12 wrote: »

I personally believe in the extraction of sensitive information by "forceful" means, if it results in saving innocent lives.

What happens if the person honestly knows nothing? Is being forceful with them still reasonable?

Biggins

7 7 12 wrote: »

I personally believe in the extraction of sensitive information by "forceful" means, if it results in saving innocent lives.

In other words any means to an end should always be allowed or is just some cases of it acceptable when it suits?

When has 'Rendition' (the invented word for taking a person from one country to another - screw a persons legal rights) become justified totally?

Supposing the Russians/Chinese/North Koreans/etc 'took' an Irish person off the streets of a European city - should that persons right just be forgotten about automatically? Would there be equal silence in other cases?

...But back to IF it results in saving innocent lives... - there is a consistent strong argument that tortured people often say what the tortures only want to hear, to the point of making stuff up, if only to starve off further pain and suffering - which also by the way means that its a possibility, due to useless misdirection being created, lives could actually be lost equally so for resources (agents/equipment) are sent on a wild goose chase.

All food for thought.

Truncheon Rouge

Theres a pretty good bbc documentary called secrets of the cia (better than the title) that shows up just how extraordinarily politically and morally fcked up some of the things they got up to were.

slightly left leaning prime minister you say? its a commie threat! lets install a murderous psychopath tyrant. ...oh look its all gone wrong, we'll cancel that out by funding his other psychopath nemesis next door. that'll fix it.