Documents and Reports

Below are links to documents and reports about the CIA's extraordinary rendition and torture program that are relevant to the NCCIT.

US Government:

2014

The Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program
A report compiled by the bipartisan United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s Detention and Interrogation Program and its use of various forms of torture (“enhanced interrogation techniques” in U.S. government communiqués) on detainees between 2001 and 2006 during the War on Terror. This is a 525 page summary of the of the 6000 page report. (Twenty “key findings” of the report can be found here.)

European Union:

2006

Alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states
An investigation by Dick Marty and the Council of Europe into how more than 20 European countries had cooperated with the CIA for the purposes of secretly transporting and detaining individuals suspected of terrorism. Suspects were held indefinitely and tortured at these secret detention centers, or “black-sites.” Flight records and the testimony of survivors link North Carolina based planes and pilots to many of these same locations.

Non-Governmental:

2016

Assessing Recent Developments: Achieving Accountability for Torture

This policy report, Deborah Weissman and the UNC School of Law Human Rights Policy Seminar, reviews the efforts to obtain compliance with U.S. human rights obligations, transparency about the torture program, and relief for victims of torture."

2015

No More Excuses: A Roadmap to Justice for CIA Torture

"It is now well established that following the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated a global, state-sanctioned program in which it abducted scores of people throughout the world, held them in secret detention—sometimes for years—or “rendered” them to various countries, and tortured or otherwise ill-treated them. While the program officially ended in 2009, the cover-up of these crimes appears to be ongoing. [...]

We believe that an independent and impartial investigation that has access to the full Senate report, other information that the government continues to keep classified, and interviews with current and former detainees, would yield further evidence of crimes and identify more suspects than we do here."  - Human Rights Watch

Timeline of American Psychological Assocition's Policies & Actions Related to Detainee Welfare and Professional Ethics in the Context of Interrogation and National Security

"The American Psychological Association's (APA) position on torture is clear and unequivocal: Any direct or indirect participation in any act of torture or other forms of cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment by psychologists is strictly prohibited. There are no exceptions. Such acts as waterboarding, sexual humiliation, stress positions and exploitation of phobias are clear violations of APA's no torture/no abuse policy."

2013

Obligations and Obstacles: Holding North Carolina Accountable for Extraordinary Rendition and Torture

From the North Carolina School of Law’s Immigration and Human Rights Policy Clinic: "Following the attacks on New York, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States began a number of programs aimed at preventing further attacks and bringing to justice those responsible for the attacks. One example is the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. [...] In January of 2012, the North Carolina School of Law’s Immigration and Human Rights Policy Clinic released a report entitled The North Carolina Connection to Extraordinary Rendition and Torture. That report set out a factual record about Aero Contractors, Ltd. (“Aero”), a North Carolina company, and its involvement in the CIA’s program of extraordinary rendition. [...]

This policy paper identifies the laws that Aero has violated and the causes of action that the individuals rendered have against Aero. This policy paper also identities the major obstacles that the rendered individuals must overcome in order to litigate their claims successfully in a United States court of law, either at the federal or state level."

Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition

From the Open Society Foundation: "Globalizing Torture is the most comprehensive account yet assembled of the human rights abuses associated with CIA secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations. It details for the first time what was done to the 136 known victims, and lists the 54 foreign governments that participated in these operations. It shows that responsibility for the abuses lies not only with the United States but with dozens of foreign governments that were complicit."

The Constitution Project’s Task Force on Detainee Treatment

From the Constitution Project: "[The Task Force Report on Detainee Treatment] is the product of more than two years of research, analysis and deliberation by the Task Force members and staff. It is based on a thorough examination of available public records and interviews with more than one hundred people, including former detainees, military and intelligence officers, interrogators and policymakers. Task Force staff and members conducted on-the-ground fact-finding in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom, and also at Guantanamo Bay.

Although the investigation proceeded without the advantages of subpoena power or access to classified information, we believe it is the most comprehensive record of detainee treatment across multiple administrations and multiple geographic theatres yet published."

2012

The North Carolina Connection To Extraordinary Rendition and Torture

The Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic of the UNC School of Law produced this groundbreaking report on North Carolina's role in CIA extraordinary rendition and torture. The report is based on evidence obtained from a review of hundreds of documents including declassified and other U.S. government materials; investigative reports from international institutional sources, journalists’ sources, public documents pertaining to airports located in Smithfield and Kinston, NC and the testimony of individuals who survived extraordinary rendition. It sets out a factual record about Aero Contractors, a company based in North Carolina, and its role in the program known as extraordinary rendition and details the ways in which the state of North Carolina and its political subdivisions have facilitated Aero’s participation in this program. The report has been endorsed by international human rights specialists including Prof. Manfred Nowak, past UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Prof. Martin Scheinin, past Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism, and Senator Dick. Marty who served as president of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

News Reports and Articles

North Carolina:

"NC’s Johnston Regional Airport linked to CIA torture program," by Tat'yana Berdan, The Daily Tar Heel, Nov. 30, 2015

"A real American hero, charged with espionage," by Bob Geary, Indy Week, Nov. 4, 2015

"Former CIA officer sees 'war on whistleblowing,'" by Corey Risinger, The Daily Tar Heel, Oct. 28, 2015

"Whistleblower on CIA torture speaks at NCSU," by Alix Vo, Technician, Oct. 28, 2015

“Group claims NC is ‘First in Torture Flights‘,” by Brian Irving, Examiner.com, July 20, 2015

“Group wants Burr to release torture report,” by Wesley Young, Winston-Salem Journal, February 26, 2015

“Group urging action on torture report,” by Taylor Knopf, News & Observer, June 26, 2015

“US Rep Jones agrees ‘crimes worth of prosecution’ detailed in Senate report,” by Renee Schoof, News & Observer, Jan. 26, 2015

“Following Senate report, Johnston leaders tout reported CIA contractor as ‘good corporate citizen‘,”  by Nash Dunn, News & Observer, Dec. 27, 2014

“NC Stop Torture Now asks McCrory to investigate state’s role in CIA ‘torture report’,”  by Colin Campbell, News & Observer, Dec. 19, 2014

“N.C. activists call for full accountability at CIA, Aero Contractors, Johnston County Airport,” by Bob Geary, Indy Week, Dec. 17, 2014

“UNC legal team, rights advocates take up cause of tortured ex-prisoner,“ By Renee Schoof, News & Observer, Oct. 13, 2014

"The greatest pilot we never saw," by Jay Price and Peggy Lim, News & Observer, May 13, 2007

National:

"John McCain Warns Trump Not to Bring Back Torture," by Chas Danner, The New York Magazine, Nov. 21, 2016

"US: Trump’s National Security Choice Won’t Rule Out Torture," by Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch, Nov. 18, 2016

"Donald Trump May Select an Architect of Bush’s Torture Program to Run CIA," by Lee Fang, The Intercept, Nov. 11, 2016

"Unmasked: The CIA officially identifies the architects of its post-9/11 torture program," by Jason Leopold, Funmi Akinyode and Ky Henderson, Vice News, Nov 7, 2016

"Major New Court Ruling Says “Even The President” Can’t Declare Torture Lawful," by Alex Emmons, The Intercept, Oct. 21 2016

"‘Guantánamo Diary’ author freed," by Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald, Oct. 17, 2016

"‘Sodomized’ Guantánamo captive to undergo rectal surgery," by Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald, Oct. 11, 2016

"How U.S. Torture Left a Legacy of Damaged Minds," by Matt Apuzzo, Sheri Fink, and James Risen, The New York Times, Oct. 8, 2016

"Rudy Giuliani implies torture is morally superior to drone strikes," by Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, Sept. 10, 2016

"After Yemeni’s 13 Years in Guantánamo, Freedom for the Soul Takes Longer," by Charlie Savage, The New York Times, July 29, 2016

"Guantanamo Bay memoirist is cleared for release," by Adam Goldman and Julie Tate, The Washington Post, July 20, 2016

"The Terror Suspect Who Had Nothing To Give," by Raymond Bonner, special to ProPublica, July 8, 2016

"How a Prison Guard and Former OC Journalist Exposed Shocking Abuses Inside Guantanamo," by Nick Schou, OC Weekly, June 22, 2016

"Detainees Describe C.I.A. Torture in Declassified Transcripts," by Charlie Savage, The New York Times, June 15, 2016

"Newly released CIA documents detail torture tactics after Sept. 11; Bush voiced unease about treatment of detainees," by Brian Bennett and David S. Cloud, The Los Angeles Times, June 14, 2016

"European Parliament Calls for Investigation of Secret CIA Torture Sites," by Alex Emmons, The Intercept, June 8, 2016

"Prosecuting Trump," by Alex Whiting, Just Security, March 22, 2016

"Trump and Torture," by David Luban, Just Security, March 21, 2016

"Senate approves ‘torture report’ author for Army post," by Julian Hattmen, The Hill, Dec. 14, 2015

"US: CIA torture is unfinished business," by Human Rights Watch, Dec. 1, 2015

"Classified report on the C.I.A.’s secret prisons is caught in limbo," by Mark Mazzetti and Matt Appuzzo, The New York Times, Nov. 9, 2015

"Architects of C.I.A. Interrogation Drew on Psychology to Induce ‘Helplessness,'" by Benedict Carey, The New York Times, Dec. 10, 2014

“Decoding the secret black sites in the Senate’s report on the CIA interrogation program,” by Adam Goldman and Julie Tate, Washington Post, Dec. 9, 2014

“A staggering map of the 54 countries that reportedly participated in the CIA’s rendition program,” by Max Fisher, Washington Post, Feb. 5, 2013

“Renditions continue under Obama despite due process concerns,” by Craig Whitlock, Washington Post, Jan. 1, 2013

“Ten years later, CIA ‘rendition’ program still divides N.C. town,” by Joby Warrick, Washington Post, Feb. 9, 2012

“`Ghost pilots’ of the CIA’s rendition team,” Bob Drogin and John Goetz, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 18, 2007

“CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons,” by Dana Priest, Washington Post, Nov. 2, 2005

“CIA expanding terror battle under guise of charter flights,” by Scott Shane, Stephen Grey, and Margott Williams, New York Times, May 31, 2005

"Outsourcing Torture," by Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, Feb. 14, 2005

International:

"Tunisian men detail CIA black site torture involving electric chair and more," by Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, Oct. 3, 2016

"Man used as test subject in CIA torture program to ask for Guantánamo release," by Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, Aug. 9, 2016

"Victims of torture are being ignored as the Libyan renditions case is buried," by Cori Crider, The Guardian, Aug. 8, 2016

"CIA photographed detainees naked before sending them to be tortured," by Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, March 28, 2016

"Shaker Aamer claims 'threats to rape his daughter' were the worst of all the torture he endured at Guantanamo Bay," by Emma Henderson, The Independent, Dec. 14, 2015

"Senate report on CIA torture claims spy agency lied about 'ineffective' program," by Spencer Ackerman, Dominic Rushe, and Julian Borger, The Guardian, Dec. 9, 2014

“New Evidence of Torture Prison in Poland,” By John Goetz andBritta Sandberg, Der Spiegel, April 27, 2009

“CIA tried to silence EU on torture flights,” by Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, Oct. 26, 2006

“CIA Abduction of El-Masri: Suspected CIA Kidnappers Identified,” Der Spiegel, September 21, 2006

Video and Audio

 

 

North Carolina Sources:

"Government must stop hiding torture record," by Mark White, The Charlotte Observer, Oct. 8, 2016

"Burr banking on Intelligence chairmanship to boost his re-election prospects," by Tim Funk, News & Observer, Oct. 2, 2016

"Senate scrutiny," by Betsy Crites, News & Observer, Oct. 1, 2016

"New torture disclosures have Carolina implications," by Chuck Fager, Fayetteville Observer, Sept. 24, 2016

"The CIA’s ‘accidental’ loss of the Senate’s torture report, " by Chuck Fager, News & Observer, June 1, 2016

"Richard Burr, our protector of the national security state," by William E. Jackson Jr., Charlotte Observer, March 12, 2016

"Burr's complicity," by Kelli Hunnicutt, News & Observer, March 9, 2016

"Burr’s CIA torture cover-up makes America less safe, less respected," by Col. Larry Wilkerson, Charlotte Observer, March 3, 2016

"For torture rhetoric on the campaign trail, blame Burr," by Col. Larry Wilkerson, News & Observer, March 2, 2016

"Burr should back release of torture report," by Geoffrey Mock, NC Stop Torture Now, Winston-Salem Journal, Feb. 24, 2016

"Burr's locked torture report," by The Editorial Board, News & Observer, Nov. 12, 2015

"CIA whistleblower prosecuted for truth," by Curt Torell, The Fayetteville Observer, Nov. 11, 2015

"Blowing the whistle on fear," by Ned Barnett, News & Observer, Oct. 31, 2015

“Cost of freedom entails moral accountability,” by Rev. Ken Sehested, Asheville Citizen-Times, March 6, 2015

“Burr should end efforts to bury torture report,” by Gary Gloster and Christina Cowger, Winston-Salem Journal, Feb. 5, 2015

“Who oversees intelligence?” by William E. Jackson Jr., Charlotte Observer commentary, Feb. 1, 2015

“Torture and NC culpability: the state owes apologies, restitution,” by Allyson Caison and Josh McIntyre, News & Observer, Dec. 15, 2014

“Burr needs to help country, NC face up to torture,” by George Reed and Christina Cowger, News & Observer Nov. 17, 2014

National Sources:

"American Citizens Must Resist A Return To Torture By Trump Administration," by Lawrence Wilkerson, The Huffington Post, Nov. 21, 2016

"A Spotlight on Torture at Guantánamo," by Norman N. Camp, The New York Times, Nov. 21, 2016

"The Government’s Addiction to ‘Secret Law,’" by Elizabeth Goitein, The New York Times, Oct. 18, 2016

"Guantánamo detention facility has failed; shut it down!" by Miami Herald Editorial Board, Miami Herald, Oct. 9, 2016

"The ‘guinea pig’ for U.S. torture is languishing at Guantanamo," by Amanda L. Jacobsen and Joseph Margulies, The Washington Post, Oct. 7, 2016

"The Violence of Forgetting," by Brad Evans and Henry A. Girou, The New York Times, June 20, 2016

"What Obama should do on torture, " by Matt Bal, Yahoo News, May 26, 2016

"CIA torturers should sue the federal government," by Ryan Cooper, The Week, Dec. 16, 2015

“Let’s talk about torture,” by John Kiriakou, Other Words blog, Aug. 12, 2015

"Torture, Impunity and the American Psychological Association," by Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan, Truthdig, July 15, 2015

“Sen. Richard Burr, stop burying the CIA detention and torture report,”  by Douglas S. Long And Sandy Irving, Washington Post commentary, Feb. 6, 2015

“Meet the CIA’s secret protector: why Senator Richard Burr is its favorite ‘overseer’,” by Heather Digdy Parton, Salon, Jan 27, 2015

“Mr. Burr’s Guantanamo games,” by Christina Cowger, Washington Post letter, Jan. 23, 2015

“The wrong Senator to oversee the CIA,” by Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, Jan. 22, 2015

“New SSCI Chair Richard Burr trying to put torture report back in the box,” by Meredith Kucherov, Human Rights First, Jan. 21, 2015

“Meet Senator Richard Burr, the pro-waterboarding conservative who wants to give Obama more power,” by Ryan Cooper, The Week, March 13, 2014

“Libertarians vs. Conservatives on torture,” by Jacob Hornberger, The Future of Freedom Foundation, Dec. 17, 2014

“A Christian Libertarian’s perspective of the CIA’s torture of detainees,” by Brian Cole, Examiner, December 15, 2014

"The Torture Report: Voices of Outrage," collection of New York Times op-eds featuring Nadine Kaslow, President American Psychological Association; Donald Gregg, Former United States ambassador to South Korea; and Curt Goering, Executive Director, Center for Victims of Torture; Dec. 12, 2014

"Prosecute the torturers: It's the law," by Erwin Chemerinsky, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 9, 2014

“Torture is torture – it’s illegal and wrong,” by David Gushee and Wiliam Sessions, Christian Post, Jan. 10, 2013

International Sources:

"The appeal of torture: what I learned from teaching a class on terrorism," by Adam Theron-Lee Rensch, The Guardian, July 8, 2016

"The CIA naked photos scandal is a wake-up call," by Trevor Timm, The Guardian, March 28, 2016

“Psychologists’ collusion with US  torture limited our ability to decry it elsewhere,” by Dr. Steven Miles, The Guardian, July 11, 2015

“America’s much abused moral authority,” by Col. Morris Davis, The Guardian, March 5, 2011

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