Does Torture Pay?

September 12 - 18, 2007 by Maya Harris, The Post Newspaper

How much money would it take to persuade you to participate in the physical abuse of another human being? Would your conscience rest easier if you knew your role was limited to transporting the unsuspecting victim to the location where unimaginable pain would be inflicted on his body?

Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. - located in San Jose, California - is a company that specializes in providing high-priced, private flight services to exclusive clients. A household name in the aviation industry, Jeppesen can smooth out all of the departure, arrival and landing complications that can sometimes make flying in and out of exotic locations difficult.

It's no wonder the CIA would seek out such corporate services. According to a former Jeppesen employee, who recounted the words of a senior Jeppesen executive in a recently-published article: "We [Jeppesen] do all of the extraordinary rendition flights - you know, the torture flights." The executive continued, "It certainly pays well. [The CIA] spare no expense. They have absolutely no worry about costs."

Cost should be the least of our worries when it comes to torture. That's why the ACLU recently sued Jeppesen for its alleged participation in the United States government's "extraordinary rendition" program - an illegal and immoral program where terror suspects are flown to countries where the whole world knows detainees are routinely tortured and abused.

To help facilitate transportation of these detainees, the CIA has sought the assistance of U.S.-based corporations like Jeppesen. These companies provide the aircraft, flight crews, and flight and logistical support necessary for hundreds of international flights - all in return for undisclosed fees.

Our lawsuit, Binyam Mohamed v. Jeppsen Dataplan, Inc., charges that Jeppesen has been a key provider of critical support services for at least 15 aircraft that made a total of 70 rendition flights; essential services ranging from preparing flight plans and furnishing services such as route and weather planning, to fueling, maintenance, customs clearance, and ground transportation. Without these support services, the CIA's rendition flights literally could not get off the ground.

And what happens when these flights reach their destination?

Abducted in 2002 by men wearing masks and dressed in black, Ethiopian citizen Binyam Mohamed was blindfolded, shackled and strapped to the seat of a plane that flew him from Pakistan to Morocco. There, he was secretly detained for more than a year. While in captivity, Mr. Mohamed's interrogators routinely beat him, breaking his bones and sending him into unconsciousness. During one horrific incident, his genitals were cut 20 to 30 times and hot, stinging liquid was poured into the open wounds.

In another case filed by the ACLU against the CIA, El-Masri v. Tenet, Khaled El-Masri, an innocent German citizen, was on vacation in Macedonia when he was kidnapped, beaten, drugged, and rendered to a notorious CIA-run prison in Afghanistan called the "Salt Pit." The CIA continued to hold Mr. El-Masri incommunicado long after his innocence was known. Then, five months after his abduction, Mr. El-Masri was deposited at night, without explanation, on a hill in Albania, never having been charged with a crime. The corporations that owned and operated the airplanes used to transport Mr. El-Masri are also named in that case.

Corporations like Jeppesen don't wield the knife that cut into Mohamed's genitalia or inflict the beatings El-Masri and others have suffered. Yet their alleged participation in the CIA rendition program makes it possible for these individuals to be subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

Facilitating and profiting from torture is not only morally reprehensible, it's illegal and contrary to core American values. Companies that participate in such conduct should be held accountable for their actions.

"Making Every Mission Possible." That's Jeppesen's motto. But some missions should never be accomplished - no matter the price.