Rendition Circuit: 12-18 November 2002
Rendition of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, Afghanistan to Thailand
Analysis by The Rendition Project and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has established that, at some point 15-16 November 2002, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was rendered from Kabul, Afghanistan, where he had been held for five days in the CIA-run DETENTION SITE COBALT to DETENTION SITE GREEN, in Thailand, where he was held and tortured alongside Abu Zubaydah.
Although there are no flights in the Rendition Flights Database between Afghanistan and Thailand in November 2002, the known renditions aircraft N379P was in the area during that time, with incomplete data regarding its full circuit. Moreover, the known legs of this circuit suggest that the missing data – relating to its movements between Central Asia and Southeast Asia between 13-16 November 2002 – may well have included the rendition of al-Nashiri to the CIA site in Thailand. Other features of the circuit – such as the stopover in Hawaii for 24 hours towards the end – suggest that this was likely to have been a renditions circuit. We are therefore tagging this circuit as the rendition of al-Nashiri.
- Click here for more on Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri’s detentions and treatment
- Click here for more on N379P
Analysis
N379P left its home base of Johnston County Airport (KJNX) late in the evening of 12 November 2002, flying to Washington Dulles International Airport (KIAD). After stopping for just over two hours, the aircraft flew transatlantic to Frankfurt Main (EDDF), arriving in the morning of 13 November. It was on the ground for just over an hour in Frankfurt, before flying direct to Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UTTT), arriving in the afternoon of 13 November. Flight data secured from Polish authorities confirm that N379P flew through Polish airspace en route from Germany to Uzbekistan on the morning of 13 November.
The aircraft then disappears from the records, before emerging again in Malaysia, at Subang International Airport (WMSA) on 16 November. The gap in the flight records between Uzbekistan and Malaysia is significant, as it may conceal a flight from Afghanistan to Thailand, corresponding with the known rendition of al-Nashiri on 15-16 November to continued secret detention and torture alongside Abu Zubaydah.
N379P left Malaysia in the morning of 16 November, and flew to Honolulu (PHNL), via an hour-long stop in the North Mariana Islands (PGSN), arriving just before midnight. The aircraft then stayed on the ground for over 24 hours, presumably so that the crew could have some 'rest and relaxation' after the rendition. It left Honolulu in the morning of 18 November, flying back to Washington, and then onto Johnston County, arriving late in the afternoon.
