Complicity
Numerous states have been complicit in different aspects of the global rendition system. Building on the framework outlined in the UN Joint Study, we understand there to be several ways in which states can be considered to have been complicit in the US-led rendition, secret detention and torture program:
- By hosting CIA-run ‘black sites’ in the country;
- By hosting a CIA or DOD secret detention facility as part of a wider US military facility in the country;
- By receiving detainees from CIA custody for further (proxy) secret detention and interrogation;
- By involvement - either singularly or in conjunction with US forces - in the arrest and/or initial detention of a detainee, before transferring custody to US forces for rendition and further secret detention.
- By direct involvement in the capture and/or interrogation of a detainee being held by the CIA or proxy forces on behalf of the CIA (where ‘direct’ implies the physical presence of that state’s agents at the point of capture and/or interrogation);
- By indirect involvement in the capture and/or interrogation of a detainee being held by the CIA or proxy forces on behalf of the CIA (where ‘indirect’ implies the sending and receiving of intelligence, questions for interrogation, and other assistance);
- By receiving logistical support from the US for rendition, secret detention and interrogation activities that are led in the entirety by that state (i.e., autonomous regional operations);
- By playing a key role in facilitating rendition flights, such as by providing airports for refuelling or regrouping (so-called ‘staging posts’).
