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A team of researchers are illuminating some of the shadowy details behind the US government's vast kidnapping and rendition program from the post 9/11 era with a new interactive online project, which sheds "unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations of recent years," the Guardian reports Wednesday.
Researchers from The Rendition Project, who worked with human rights group Reprieve, compiled a trove of data and research - including original documents - that reveals the ways in which the CIA transported hostages through a network of detention and rendition facilities around the world--staying mobile and illusive to avoid detection.
Among the features of the project, the researchers allow you to track CIA flights via an interactive map, showing the trajectories of CIA operatives and their prisoners that criss-cross around the planet and access analyses of the prisoners and the prisons and aircraft used by the CIA.
As the Guardian reports:
The data includes details on 11,006 flights by aeroplanes linked to the CIA's rendition program since 2002. Of those, 1,556 flights are classed as confirmed or suspected rendition flights, or flagged as "suspicious", depending on the strength of the supporting evidence surrounding each. [...]
The website also weaves together first-hand testimony of detainees of their mistreatment within the secret prisons; the layout and conditions of the facilities; the movements of detainees across the globe; and documents that detail outsourcing to corporations that offered logistical support, from flights to catering and hotel reservations. In some cases, it is unclear whether the airline companies would have been aware of the purpose of the flights.
The project also brings to light new information on the methods used to avoid detection of rendition flights, particularly as journalists became aware of the program. [...]
"The database makes a major contribution to efforts to track CIA rendition flights, and provides the clearest picture so far of what was going on," said researcher Sam Raphael. "It also serves as an important tool for investigators, journalists and lawyers to delve into in more detail."
"The Rendition Project lays bare the inner workings of the logistics network underlying the US government's secret prison program," said Crofton Black, an investigator with Reprieve.
See the interactive map below:
_______________________
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
A team of researchers are illuminating some of the shadowy details behind the US government's vast kidnapping and rendition program from the post 9/11 era with a new interactive online project, which sheds "unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations of recent years," the Guardian reports Wednesday.
Researchers from The Rendition Project, who worked with human rights group Reprieve, compiled a trove of data and research - including original documents - that reveals the ways in which the CIA transported hostages through a network of detention and rendition facilities around the world--staying mobile and illusive to avoid detection.
Among the features of the project, the researchers allow you to track CIA flights via an interactive map, showing the trajectories of CIA operatives and their prisoners that criss-cross around the planet and access analyses of the prisoners and the prisons and aircraft used by the CIA.
As the Guardian reports:
The data includes details on 11,006 flights by aeroplanes linked to the CIA's rendition program since 2002. Of those, 1,556 flights are classed as confirmed or suspected rendition flights, or flagged as "suspicious", depending on the strength of the supporting evidence surrounding each. [...]
The website also weaves together first-hand testimony of detainees of their mistreatment within the secret prisons; the layout and conditions of the facilities; the movements of detainees across the globe; and documents that detail outsourcing to corporations that offered logistical support, from flights to catering and hotel reservations. In some cases, it is unclear whether the airline companies would have been aware of the purpose of the flights.
The project also brings to light new information on the methods used to avoid detection of rendition flights, particularly as journalists became aware of the program. [...]
"The database makes a major contribution to efforts to track CIA rendition flights, and provides the clearest picture so far of what was going on," said researcher Sam Raphael. "It also serves as an important tool for investigators, journalists and lawyers to delve into in more detail."
"The Rendition Project lays bare the inner workings of the logistics network underlying the US government's secret prison program," said Crofton Black, an investigator with Reprieve.
See the interactive map below:
_______________________
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
A team of researchers are illuminating some of the shadowy details behind the US government's vast kidnapping and rendition program from the post 9/11 era with a new interactive online project, which sheds "unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations of recent years," the Guardian reports Wednesday.
Researchers from The Rendition Project, who worked with human rights group Reprieve, compiled a trove of data and research - including original documents - that reveals the ways in which the CIA transported hostages through a network of detention and rendition facilities around the world--staying mobile and illusive to avoid detection.
Among the features of the project, the researchers allow you to track CIA flights via an interactive map, showing the trajectories of CIA operatives and their prisoners that criss-cross around the planet and access analyses of the prisoners and the prisons and aircraft used by the CIA.
As the Guardian reports:
The data includes details on 11,006 flights by aeroplanes linked to the CIA's rendition program since 2002. Of those, 1,556 flights are classed as confirmed or suspected rendition flights, or flagged as "suspicious", depending on the strength of the supporting evidence surrounding each. [...]
The website also weaves together first-hand testimony of detainees of their mistreatment within the secret prisons; the layout and conditions of the facilities; the movements of detainees across the globe; and documents that detail outsourcing to corporations that offered logistical support, from flights to catering and hotel reservations. In some cases, it is unclear whether the airline companies would have been aware of the purpose of the flights.
The project also brings to light new information on the methods used to avoid detection of rendition flights, particularly as journalists became aware of the program. [...]
"The database makes a major contribution to efforts to track CIA rendition flights, and provides the clearest picture so far of what was going on," said researcher Sam Raphael. "It also serves as an important tool for investigators, journalists and lawyers to delve into in more detail."
"The Rendition Project lays bare the inner workings of the logistics network underlying the US government's secret prison program," said Crofton Black, an investigator with Reprieve.
See the interactive map below:
_______________________