{"id":901,"date":"2020-10-06T09:13:52","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T13:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/?p=901"},"modified":"2023-06-12T18:07:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T22:07:16","slug":"rep-david-price-pushes-cia-for-answers-on-torture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/2020\/10\/06\/rep-david-price-pushes-cia-for-answers-on-torture\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. David Price Pushes CIA for Answers on Torture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rep. David Price (D-NC) has taken a courageous step in pressing the CIA on its post-9\/11 rendition, detention and interrogation (RDI) program. The program has long been veiled in secrecy despite the Senate\u2019s investigation of torture at CIA black sites.\u00a0 Rep. Price’s letter<\/a> is aimed at an aspect that the Senate did not examine — renditions to foreign proxies — and on the role of Smithfield, NC-based aviation firm Aero Contractors in the RDI program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate \u201ctorture\nreport,<\/a>\u201d partially declassified in 2014, focused on tortures performed on 119\nprisoners in CIA-operated black sites in Thailand, Afghanistan, eastern Europe,\nand Cuba.  Rep. Price\u2019s letter is\naddressed to CIA Director Gina Haspel, who for a time oversaw\nthe first CIA black site<\/a> in Thailand. \nHis letter raises questions about as-yet unexamined renditions to\nforeign proxy nations such as Egypt and Morocco, where torture was conducted by\nofficials of the host nations working in coordination with the CIA.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proxy interrogations played an important role in\nRDI, e.g., in the cases of Binyam\nMohamed<\/a> and Abou\nElKassim Britel<\/a>.  Evidence here<\/a>, here<\/a>\nand here<\/a>\nindicates a close relationship between the CIA and Moroccan prisons at Temara\nand Ain Aouda where prisoners were severely tortured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNorth Carolinians deserve answers to long-standing\nquestions,\u201d said Prof. Deborah Weissman, advisor to the NC Commission of\nInquiry on Torture (NCCIT) and professor of law at UNC-Chapel Hill.  \u201cWhy and exactly how did the CIA use Aero\nContractors and our public airports in their kidnap-for-torture system?  What has happened to the 15 prisoners we know\nwere rendered to be tortured in Morocco or other proxy nations for the CIA by\nAero Contractors?\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs recently as Ronald Reagan\u2019s presidency, leaders\nof both American parties agreed torture was beyond the pale,\u201d said Michael\nStruett, professor of political science at NCSU\u2019s School of Public and International\nAffairs and board member of the NCCIT. \n\u201cUnfortunately, that norm has been badly degraded by the Bush\nadministration\u2019s failed \u2018war on terror\u2019 and the Obama and Trump administrations\u2019\nfailure to hold torturers to account.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RDI program could only be carried out \u2013 and then\nlargely buried \u2013 because leaders of both parties turned a blind eye.  This refusal to admit the wrongs persists\namong North Carolina\u2019s elected leaders, both Republican and Democrat.  Governor Cooper and Attorney General Stein\nhave steadfastly refused to acknowledge that the CIA\u2019s use of our tax-supported\npublic airports, which continues to this day, is an ongoing threat to human\nrights and a stain on our conscience. \nRepublican leaders of the General Assembly refused to give a 2019 bill, \u201cEnding\nNC\u2019s Involvement in Torture,\u201d<\/a> a hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNorth Carolinians are better than this,\u201d said Catherine\nRead, executive director of the NCCIT, which conducted the citizen-led inquiry\nto which Rep. Price\u2019s letter refers.  \u201cBy\ninsisting on truth instead of a cover-up, Rep. Price exemplifies what is best\nabout our state \u2013 integrity, decency, and a commitment to doing what is right\neven when it may not be easy.\u201d  Ms. Read\nnoted that in\n2019, Rep.\nPrice read into the Congressional Record the executive summary of the NCCIT\u2019s report\n“Torture Flights<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While U.S. courts have afforded them no opportunity\nfor justice, Mr. Mohamed, Mr. Britel, and two other RDI victims will\nhave a \u201cday in court\u201d<\/a> later this year before the Inter-American Commission\non Human Rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. David Price (D-NC) has taken a courageous step in pressing the CIA on its post-9\/11 rendition, detention and interrogation (RDI) program. The program has long been veiled in secrecy despite the Senate\u2019s investigation of torture at CIA black sites.\u00a0 Rep. Price’s letter is aimed at an aspect that the Senate did not examine —…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1209,"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/1209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}