Account Rendered : Extraordinary Renditions and Britain's Role

In its struggle against international terrorism following 9/11, the United States developed rendition - the international transfer of an individual without customary due processes - as an instrument of policy. Rendition became associated with the use of coercive interrogation techniques - techniques often crossing the threshold of torture, in violation of international standards to which successive American administrations committed themselves. To a degree yet to be fully established, Britain was implicated in that policy. Whatever its alleged benefits, rendition's cost is clear - not simply in terms of the human impact of the abuses, but also in terms of the huge damage done to the moral authority of the West. By creating a powerful image of injustice, rendition gives Islamist radicals a recruiting and propaganda tool. Moreover, the policy is a severe setback to efforts to enhance shared international standards in humanitarian and human rights laws. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition was founded in December 2005, following the emergence of allegations that the United States had been operating a programme of 'ghost flights' and 'black sites'. In the five years since then the Group has contributed to public knowledge and awareness of the debate surrounding rendition and Britain's involvement in it.