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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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May 30th,
2007 - ACLU To Sue Boeing Subsidiary |
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American Civil Liberties Union Claims Jeppesen Dataplan Enabled CIA
Torture Activities By Lindsay Goldwert Associated Press May 30, 2007 The American Civil Liberties
Union said it is suing Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing Co.,
claiming it provided secret CIA transportation services for three terrorism
suspects who were tortured under the U.S. government's "extraordinary
rendition" program. The cases involve the
alleged mistreatment of Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian citizen, in July 2002
and January 2004; Elkassim Britel, an Italian citizen, in May 2002; and Ahmed
Agiza, an Egyptian citizen, in December 2001, ACLU officials said at a
Manhattan news conference. Mohamed is currently being
held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Britel in Morocco and Agiza in Egypt, the ACLU
said in a statement. The lawsuit, which the ACLU
planned to file in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
California, charges that flight services provided by Jeppesen enabled the
clandestine transportation of the men to secret overseas locations, where they
were tortured and subjected to other "forms of cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment." Boeing itself is not named
in the lawsuit. Mike Pound, a spokesman for
Englewood, Colo.,-based Jeppesen, said company officials had not yet seen the
lawsuit and had no immediate comment. He said Jeppesen provides
support services rather than the flights themselves. "We create flight
plans, what the fuel requirements might be, where they might refuel, the
airports that they might use." He said the company's
customers include airlines, private pilots and companies. "We don't know the
purpose of the trip for which we do a flight plan," said Pound. "We
don't need to know specific details. It's the customer's business, and we do
the business that we are contracted for. It's not our practice to ever inquire
about the purpose of a trip." ACLU attorney Ben Wizner
said after the news conference: "Either they knew or reasonably should
have known that they were facilitating a torture program." Companies "are not
allowed to have their head in the sand, and take money from the CIA to fly
people, hooded and shackled, to foreign countries to be tortured," said
Wizner. Boeing spokesman Tim Neale
said company officials "typically don't comment on lawsuits" and
had not seen this one, "nor are we confirming the reports" that
Jeppesen provided services to the CIA because "there's a confidentiality
clause with all its customers." The lawsuit says the company
"furnished essential flight and logistical support to aircraft used by
the CIA to transfer terror suspects to secret detention and interrogation
facilities in countries such as Morocco and Egypt where, according to the
U.S. Department of State, the use of torture is 'routine,' as well as to
U.S.-run detention facilities overseas, where the United States government
maintains that the safeguards of U.S. law do not apply.” "American corporations
should not be profiting from a CIA rendition program that is unlawful and
contrary to core American values," said Anthony D. Romero, executive
director of the ACLU. "Corporations that choose to participate in such
activity can and should be held legally accountable." The CIA is not named in the
suit. Wizner said the executive branch has evoked a state secrets defense in
similar lawsuits. The Bush administration has
insisted it receives guarantees from countries receiving terror suspects that
prisoners will not be tortured. The ACLU said its lawsuit
was being filed under the Alien Tort Statute, which permits aliens to bring
claims in the United States for violations of the law of nations or a United
States treaty. It said the statute recognizes international norms accepted
among civilized nations that are violated by acts such as enforced
disappearance, torture and other inhuman treatment. © MMVII The Associated
Press. All Rights Reserved. External link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/30/national/main2867024.shtml |