Editing Extraordinary rendition (section)

=== Investigations by national governments ===
==== France ====
The French [[district attorney]] of [[Bobigny]] opened up an instruction (an investigation) in order "to verify the presence in [[Le Bourget Airport]], on 20 July 2005, of the plane numbered N50BH." This instruction was opened following a complaint deposed in December 2005 by the ''[[Ligue des droits de l'homme]]'' (LDH) NGO ("Human Rights League") and the ''[[International Federation of Human Rights Leagues]]'' (FIDH) NGO on charges of "arbitrary detention", "crime of torture" and "non-respect of the rights of [[war prisoners]]". It has as objective to determine if the plane was used to transport CIA prisoners to [[Guantanamo Bay detainment camp]] and if the French authorities had knowledge of this stop. However, the lawyer defending the LDH declared that he was surprised that the instruction was only opened on 20 January 2006, and that no verifications had been done before.
On 2 December 2005, conservative newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' had revealed the existence of two CIA planes that had landed in France, suspected of transporting CIA prisoners. But the instruction concerned only N50BH, which was a [[Gulfstream III]], which would have landed at Le Bourget on 20 July 2005, coming from [[Oslo]], Norway. The other aircraft is suspected to have landed in [[Brest, France|Brest]] on 31 March 2002. It was investigated by the Canadian authorities, as it would have been flying from [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador]] in Canada, via [[Keflavík]] in Iceland before going to Turkey.<ref>{{in lang|fr}}{{cite news | title=La France enquête sur les avions de la CIA |work=Le Figaro  |language=fr |date=2 February 2006 | url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060302.FIG000000200_la_france_enquete_sur_les_avions_de_la_cia.html}}</ref>

==== Germany ====
Business daily ''[[Handelsblatt]]'' reported 24 November 2005, that the CIA used an American military base in Germany to transport terrorism suspects without informing the German government. The ''[[Berliner Zeitung]]'' reported the following day there was documentation of 85 takeoffs and landings by planes with a "high probability" of being operated by the CIA, at [[Ramstein Air Base|Ramstein]], the [[Rhein-Main Air Base]] and others. The newspaper cited experts and "[[Aircraft spotting|plane-spotters]]" who observed the planes as responsible for the tally.<ref name="refbot.947">{{cite web | title=CIA Uses German Bases to Transport Terrorists, Paper Says | publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] | date=25 November 2005 | url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1792376,00.html | access-date=18 December 2005 }}</ref>

In January 2007, the German government indicted 13 alleged CIA operatives for the abduction in Macedonia, transport to Afghanistan, and torture of Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen mistakenly believed to be a terrorist.<ref name="German Court">Landler, Mark, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/world/europe/01germany.html German Court Challenges C.I.A. Over Abduction] The New York Times, 1 February 2007.</ref><ref name="German justice system stymied">Slackman, Michael, [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/world/europe/09wikileaks-elmasri.html?hp Officials Pressed Germans on Kidnapping by C.I.A.] The New York Times, 8 December 2010.</ref> Spanish authorities identified the suspected CIA abduction team from hotel records after a stopover by their Boeing 737 in Palma de Mallorca.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Names of the alleged occupants of the rendition aircraft were James Fairing, Jason Franklin, Michael Grady, Lyle Edgard Lumsden III, Eric Fain, Bryam Charles, Kirk James Bird, Walter Richard Gressbore, Patricia Rilroy, Jane Payne, James O'Hale, John Decker, and Hector Lorenzo.<ref>Horton, Scott, [http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/05/hbc-90007028 Arrest of 13 CIA Agents Sought in Spain] Harpers Magazine, 12 May 2010.</ref>

Many of these names proved to be aliases.  Investigations by news organizations including the ''Los Angeles Times'',<ref name="Ghost Pilots">Drogin, Bob and Goetz, John [http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2007/20070218-2.htm "Ghost Pilots: The Times Identifies Three Fliers Facing Kidnapping Charges in Germany Related to a 2003 Counter-terrorism Mission"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720181640/http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2007/20070218-2.htm |date=20 July 2011 }}. ''Los Angeles Times'', 18 February 2007</ref>  ''The Nation'',<ref>Krom, Chris and Doub, Jill, [http://www.thenation.com/article/tracking-ghost-pilots "Tracking the Ghost Pilots"]. ''The Nation'', 3 March 2007.</ref> and ''Der Spiegel''<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,438371,00.html Suspected CIA Kidnappers Identified] Der Spiegel 21 September 2006</ref> identified James Kovalesky (alias James Richard Fairing), Harry Kirk Elarbee (alias Kirk James Bird), and Eric Robert Hume (alias Eric Matthew Fain) as pilots working for [[Aero Contractors (US)|Aero Contractors]], a CIA flight contractor based in Smithfield, N.C.  CBS News identified Lyle Edgard Lumsden III as a US Army captain who "retired in 1992 from active duty, having served as a physician's assistant" whose last known address was "the Washington DC area".<ref name="Thirteen Arrests">Grace, Francie [https://web.archive.org/web/20070203023849/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/31/world/main2415627.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2415627 "Thirteen Arrests Ordered by Germany"]. CBS News, 31 January 2007</ref>

None of the names or aliases in this case match those of the 26 alleged CIA agents prosecuted by Italy (see [[Abu Omar case]] below). However, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported one of the pilots may have been involved in both incidents.<ref name="Ghost Pilots" /> ''The New York Times'' reported that the 13 alleged CIA operatives were charged in indictments issued in Spain and in Munich, but because of "intense political pressure from Washington" Germany never requested their extradition.<ref name="German justice system stymied" /><ref name="Wikileaks Cables">Egelko, Bob, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/06/IN251HEQIP.DTL&tsp=1 "WikiLeaks Cables Recount How U.S. Pressured Allies"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', 6 March 2011.</ref> In Germany, unlike Italy, defendants cannot be [[trial in absentia|tried ''in absentia'']].<ref name="German Court" />

==== Italy ====
In the "[[Abu Omar case]]" in Italy, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (aka Abu Omar), an Islamist cleric, was kidnapped in a joint CIA–[[SISMI]] operation in [[Milan]] on 17 February 2003, transferred to the [[Aviano Air Base]], and then flown to Egypt, where he was held until 11 February 2007, when an Egyptian court ruled his imprisonment was "unfounded".<ref name="ITH31">[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/16/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-CIA-Kidnap.php Italy indicts 31 linked to CIA rendition case], ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'', 16 February 2007 {{in lang|en}}</ref> He claims he was abused on the Aviano Base and endured prolonged torture in Egypt. Italian prosecutors investigated the abduction, and indicted 26 US citizens including the head of CIA in Italy, [[Jeffrey W. Castelli]]. SISMI chief General [[Nicolò Pollari]] and second-in-command [[Marco Mancini]] were forced to resign, and were also indicted. On 4 November 2009, after a [[trial in absentia|trial ''in absentia'']], an Italian judge found [[Abu Omar case#American Defendants|23 Americans (names listed here)]] and the two Italians guilty. The sentences ranged from five to eight years for the Americans and three years each for the Italians.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091107220926/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFK6jJ12W23VZD-Hsw_RZIo67JnwD9BOUKQO0 Italian judge convicts 23 in CIA kidnap case], 4 November 2009</ref> The judge acquitted three American diplomats, citing [[diplomatic immunity]], along with five Italian secret service agents, including the former chief, citing state secrecy.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39634807 Italy trial of CIA kidnapping case begins] NBC News 10 October 2010.</ref> In 2010 an Italian appellate court confirmed most of the verdicts and increased the sentences of the 23 Americans.<ref name="Italy Ups Sentences">The appellate court's written ruling explaining the reason for the increased sentences is due in March 2011. Winfield, Nichole [http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/12/15/2692767/italy-appeals-court-ups-us-sentences.html Italy appeals court ups US sentences in CIA trial]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Herald Online, 15 December 2010.</ref> Among those convicted was [[Steven Kappes|Stephen R. Kappes]], later the number two man at the CIA,<ref>Times Topics, [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/stephen_r_kappes/index.html?inline=nyt-per "Biography of Stephen R. Kappes"] ''The New York Times'', updated 15 April 2010.</ref> [[Robert Seldon Lady]], formerly CIA station Chief in Milan, Col. [[Joseph L. Romano]], a U S Air Force officer, and asserted CIA agent [[Sabrina De Sousa]], who unsuccessfully sued the US State Department to grant her diplomatic immunity and shield her from arrest.<ref name="Italy Ups Sentences" />

These were the first convictions anywhere in the world arising from the CIA's practice of abducting terror suspects and transferring them to third countries where torture occurred.<ref>Donadio, Rachel, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/world/europe/05italy.html "Italy Convicts 23 Americans for C.I.A. Renditions"]. ''The New York Times'', 4 November 2009.</ref> The US had tried but failed to obstruct the prosecutions by Italy's independent judiciary.<ref name="US Pressure">Goetz, John and Gebauer, Matthew, "[https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/cia-rendition-case-us-pressured-italy-to-influence-judiciary-a-735268.html US Pressured Italy to Influence Judiciary]", ''Der Spiegel'', 17 December 2010.</ref> Following the convictions the US used threats and diplomatic pressure to stop the Italian executive branch from issuing arrest warrants and extradition requests for the Americans.<ref name="US Pressure" />

==== Ireland ====
The [[Irish government]] has come under internal and external pressure to inspect airplanes at [[Shannon Airport]] to investigate whether or not they contain extraordinary rendition captives.<ref name="Times041114">{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-1357726,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20060111121535/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-1357726,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 January 2006 | title=US 'torture flights' stopped at Shannon | date=14 November 2004 |access-date=8 September 2005 |work=The Times  |location=London  | first=Stephen | last=Grey}}</ref><ref name="TheVillage051125">{{cite news|url=http://www.villagemagazine.ie/article.asp?sid=1&sud=41&aid=787 |title=Investigations into CIA 'torture flights' |date=25 November 2005 |work=[[Village (magazine)|Village]] |access-date=7 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5QeHq8qPT?url=http://www.villagemagazine.ie/article.asp?sid=1 |archive-date=27 July 2007 }}</ref>
Police at [[Shannon Airport]] said that they had received political instruction not to approach, search or otherwise interfere with US aircraft suspected of being involved in extraordinary rendition flights. Irish Justice Minister [[Dermot Ahern]] sought permission from the US for random inspection of US flights, to provide political "cover" to him in case rendition flights were revealed to have used Shannon; he believed at least three flights had done so.<ref>Kelley, Dara,[http://www.irishcentral.com/news/WikiLeaks-reveal-Justice-Ministers-Dermot-Aherns-rendition-fears-112121564.html WikiLeaks reveals Justice Minister's Dermot Ahern's rendition fears] Irish Central, 18 December 2010.</ref>
The European Parliament has censured Ireland for its role in facilitating extraordinary rendition and taking insufficient or no measures to uphold its obligations under the UN CAT.<ref name="Irish Times">[https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2007/0124/1169426831962.html EU to censure Ahern over rendition role] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012193532/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2007/0124/1169426831962.html |date=12 October 2012 }}, ''[[The Irish Times]]'', 24 January 2007.</ref>

==== Kosovo ====
In 2002, the [[Council of Europe]]'s then-[[Commissioner for Human Rights]] [[Alvaro Gil-Robles]] witnessed "a smaller version of Guantanamo", he told France's ''[[Le Monde]]'' newspaper.<ref name="www.watchingamerica.com.948">{{cite web | title=Watching America | url=http://www.watchingamerica.com/lemonde000065.shtml | access-date=18 December 2005 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318101637/http://www.watchingamerica.com/lemonde000065.shtml | archive-date=18 March 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="www.lemonde.fr.949">{{cite web | title=Une "prison secrète" américaine a existé dans un camp de l'OTAN au Kosovo | website=[[Le Monde]] | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-714198,0.html | access-date=18 December 2005 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051128015407/http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-714198,0.html | archive-date=28 November 2005 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Gil-Robles told the daily that he had inspected the centre, located within the [[US military]]'s Camp [[Bondsteel]] in Kosovo, in 2002, to investigate reports of extrajudicial arrests by NATO-led peacekeepers.<ref name="www.forbes.com.950">{{cite news | title=US ran Guantanamo-style prison in Kosovo – Council of Europe envoy | url=https://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/afx/2005/11/25/afx2354167.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127065626/http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/afx/2005/11/25/afx2354167.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 November 2005 | access-date=18 December 2005 | work=Forbes | date=25 November 2005}}</ref>

==== Portugal ====
Portugal opened up an investigation concerning CIA flights in February 2007, on the basis of declarations by [[Socialist Party (Portugal)|Socialist]] [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]] [[Ana Gomes]] and by Rui Costa Pinto, journalist of ''[[Visão]]'' review. The Portuguese general prosecutor, [[Cândida Almeida]], head of the [[Central Investigation and Penal Action Department]] (DCIAP), announced the opening of investigations on 5 February 2007. They were to be centered on the issue of "torture or inhuman and cruel treatment," and instigated by allegations of "illegal activities and serious human rights violations" made by MEP Ana Gomes to the attorney general, Pinto Monteiro, on 26 January 2007.<ref name="StateFeb07">[http://www.statewatch.org/news/2007/feb/03cia-portugal.htm Portugal: Renditions: Judicial investigation into CIA flights begins], ''[[Statewatch]] News Online'', 5 February 2007 – 6 February 2007 {{in lang|en}}</ref> In February 2008, the UK NGO [[Reprieve (organisation)|Reprieve]] published a report based on flight logs obtained by Ana Gomes, confirming that over 728 prisoners were flown to Guantánamo through Portuguese airspace, and hence through Portuguese jurisdiction, in at least 28 flights.<ref>{{cite web|work=statewatch.org|title= Portugal: Over 700 prisoners flown to Guantánamo through Portuguese airspace|url= http://www.statewatch.org/news/2008/feb/02reprieve-rendition-portugal.htm|access-date=23 February 2008}}</ref>

One of the most critic voice against the scarce collaboration provided by the Portuguese government to the European Parliament Commission which investigated CIA flights, Ana Gomes declared that, although she had no doubt that permission of these illegal flights were frequent during [[Durão Barroso]] (2002–2004) and [[Santana Lopes]] (2004–2005)' governments, "during the [Socialist] government of [[José Sócrates]] [2005– ], 24 flights which passed through Portuguese territory" are registered.<ref>[http://www.europapress.es/noticia.aspx?cod=20070205202548&ch=69 Portugal/CIA – La Fiscalía General abre una investigación sobre los supuestos vuelos ilegales de la CIA en Portugal], ''[[Europa Press (news agency)|Europa Press]]'', 5 February 2007 {{in lang|es}}</ref> Active in the TDIP commission, Ana Gomes complained about the Portuguese state's reluctance to provide information, leading her to tensions with the Foreign minister, [[Luís Amado]], member of the [[Socialist Party (Portugal)|same party]]. Ana Gomes declared herself satisfied with the opening of the investigations, but underlined that she had always claimed that a parliamentary inquiry would be necessary.<ref name="StateFeb07" />

On the other hand, journalist Rui Costa Pinto was heard by the DCIAP, as he had written an article, refused by ''Visão'', about flights passing by [[Lajes Field]], a Portuguese airbase used by the US Air Forces, in the [[Azores]].<ref name="StateFeb07" />

Approximately 150 CIA flights which have flown through Portugal have been identified.<ref>Details about CIA flights requested to Portuguese government by MEP Ana Gomes. See [http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/oct/04portugal-cia-gomes.htm Portugal: Evidence of illegal CIA rendition flights surfacing], ''Statewatch'', October 2006 {{in lang|en}}</ref>

==== Romania ====
[[Franco Frattini]] the European Union Justice Commissioner requested an explanation from the governments of Poland and Romania about the accusations made by Dick Marty. Doris Mircea (Romanian spokeswoman in [[Brussels]]) replied to this in November 2007 in a letter stating "no person was kept illegally as a prisoner within Romanian jails and no illegal transfer of detainees passed through Romanian territory" and that that was the official finding of a committee of inquiry set up by the government to investigate the accusations.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7097253.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Romania says it had no CIA bases | date=15 November 2007 | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>

==== Spain ====
In November 2005, Spanish newspaper ''[[El País]]'' reported that CIA planes had landed in the [[Canary Islands]] and in [[Palma de Mallorca]]. Spanish magistrate [[Baltasar Garzón]], notable for his earlier attempt to prosecute Chilean dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]], opened up an investigation concerning these landings which, according to Madrid, were made without official knowledge, thus being a breach of [[national sovereignty]].<ref>{{cite news |title=El Gobierno canario pide explicaciones sobre vuelos de la CIA en Tenerife |date=16 November 2005 |work=El Pais |url=http://www.elpais.es/articulo/elpepinac/20051116elpepinac_3/Tes/Canarias%20pide%20explicaciones%20sobre%20las%20escalas%20de%20vuelos%20de%20la%20CIA%20en%20Tenerife |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301012114/http://www.elpais.es/articulo/elpepinac/20051116elpepinac_3/Tes/Canarias%20pide%20explicaciones%20sobre%20las%20escalas%20de%20vuelos%20de%20la%20CIA%20en%20Tenerife |archive-date=1 March 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=La Fiscalía de Canarias investigará las escalas de vuelos de la CIA en Tenerife y Gran Canaria |date=18 November 2005 |work=El Mundo |url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/11/18/espana/1132315880.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Un supuesto avión de la CIA aterriza en la base portuguesa de Azores |date=28 November 2005 |publisher=Canarias 7 |url=http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?Id=14607&dia=29%20November%202005 |access-date=8 April 2014 |archive-date=27 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927203357/http://www.canarias7.es/articulo.cfm?Id=14607&dia=29%20November%202005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[United States diplomatic cables leak|Diplomatic cables leaked in 2010]] suggest that the United States government including the American ambassador, worked with parts of the Spanish government to subvert the Spanish judicial process to control and ultimately stymie and thwart the investigation.<ref name="Wikileaks Cables" /><ref name="Wikileaks judicial interference">Tremlett, Giles,[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/30/wikileaks-us-spain-guantanamo- Wikileaks: US pressured Spain over CIA rendition and Guantánamo torture rendition] The Guardian, 1 December 2010.</ref><ref name="Horton Interview DemocraqcyNow">Horton, Scott [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/1/wikileaks_cables_reveal_us_tried_to WikiLeaks Cables Reveal U.S. Tried to Thwart Spanish Probes of Gitmo Torture and CIA Rendition] Interview with Amy Goodman, 1 December 2010.</ref>

==== Sweden ====
{{Main|Repatriation of Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery}}
Extraordinary rendition provoked a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Sweden in 2006 when Swedish authorities put a stop to CIA rendition flights.<ref name="Sweden Stops Flights">Nylander, Johan, [http://www.swedishwire.com/politics/7497-cia-rendition-flights-stopped-by-swedish-military CIA rendition flights stopped by Swedish military] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208232249/http://www.swedishwire.com/politics/7497-cia-rendition-flights-stopped-by-swedish-military |date=8 December 2010 }} The Swedish Wire, 5 December 2010.</ref> In December 2001 Swedish police detained Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery, two Egyptians who had been seeking asylum in Sweden. The police took them to Bromma airport in Stockholm, and then stood aside as masked alleged CIA operatives cut their clothes from their bodies, inserted drugged suppositories in their anuses, and dressed them in diapers and overalls, handcuffed and chained them and put them on an executive jet with American registration N379P.  They were flown to Egypt, where they were imprisoned, beaten, and tortured according to extensive investigate reports by Swedish programme ''Kalla fakta''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/de/news/2004/11/21/swedish-tv4-kalla-fakta-program-broken-promise-part-iv |title=Kalla Facta program Part IV-"The Broken Promise" |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=21 November 2004 |access-date=19 December 2011}}</ref> A Swedish Parliamentary investigator concluded that the degrading and inhuman treatment of the two prisoners violated Swedish law.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/20/AR2005052001605.html New Swedish Documents Illuminate CIA Action] The Washington Post, 21 May 2005</ref> In 2006 the United Nations found Sweden had violated an international torture ban in its complicity in the CIA's transfer of al-Zari to Egypt.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/11/09/sweden-violated-torture-ban-cia-rendition Sweden Violated Torture Ban in CIA Rendition] Human Rights Watch 9 November 2006.</ref> Sweden imposed strict rules on rendition flights, but Swedish Military Intelligence posing as airport personnel who boarded one of two subsequent extraordinary rendition flights in 2006 during a stopover at Stockholm's Arlanda International Airport found the Swedish restrictions were being ignored.<ref name="Sweden Stops Flights" /> In 2008 the Swedish government awarded al-Zery $500,000 in damages for the abuse he received in Sweden and the subsequent torture in Egypt.<ref name="Sweden Stops Flights" />

==== United Kingdom ====
After claims by [[Liberty (pressure group)|Liberty]] that British airports had been used by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|"CIA]] for extraordinary rendition flights, the [[Association of Chief Police Officers]] launched an investigation in November 2005. The report was published in June 2007 and found no evidence to support the claim. This was on the same day the Council of Europe released its report with evidence that the UK had colluded in extraordinary rendition, thus directly contradicting ACPO's findings. Liberty has challenged the findings and has stated that its original claims were based on "credible evidence".<ref name="BBC News 9 June">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6736227.stm Police reject UK rendition claims], ''[[BBC News Online]]'', 9 June 2007</ref>

In July 2007, the British government's Intelligence and Security Committee released their Rendition report, detailing U.S. and U.K. activities and policies.<ref>[http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/publications/intelligence/20070725_isc_final.pdf Rendition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227144826/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/publications/intelligence/20070725_isc_final.pdf |date=27 February 2008 }}; Intelligence and Security Committee; The [[Rt Hon]] [[Paul Murphy, Baron Murphy of Torfaen|Paul Murphy]] MP, Chairman; July 2007. Retrieved July 2007.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/world/europe/28rendition.html British Report Criticizes U.S. Treatment of Terror Suspects], Raymond Bonner and Jane Perlez, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 28 July 2007. Retrieved July 2007.</ref>

On 21 February 2008, British Foreign Secretary [[David Miliband]] admitted (despite previous government denials) that two U.S. extraordinary rendition flights had stopped on [[Diego Garcia]] in 2002, a U.K. territory.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7256587.stm|title=UK apology on US terror flights|publisher=BBC|date=21 February 2008|access-date=21 February 2008}}</ref> When questioned as to whether the government had deliberately misled the public over rendition, the Foreign Secretary apologised and stated that the government had simply "made a mistake". His statement also laid out the current UK Government view on Extraordinary rendition;

{{blockquote|Our counter-terrorism relationship with the United States is vital to UK security. I am absolutely clear that there must and will continue to be the strongest possible intelligence and counter-terrorism relationship with the US, consistent with UK law and our international obligations.

As part of our close co-operation, there has long been a regular exchange with the US authorities, in which we have set out: that we expect them to seek permission to render detainees via UK territory and airspace, including Overseas Territories; that we will grant that permission only if we are satisfied that the rendition would accord with UK law and our international obligations; and how we understand our obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7257500.stm |publisher=BBC News | title=In full: Miliband rendition statement | date=21 February 2008 | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>|David Miliband}}

A judicial inquiry, chaired by [[Sir Peter Gibson]] was announced by the government in July 2010, but was never formally launched and was scrapped in January 2012. According to the government, this was due to ongoing criminal investigations.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-16614514 |publisher=BBC News | title=UK inquiry into rendition and torture collusion scrapped | date=19 January 2012 | access-date=27 March 2013}}</ref> In April 2012 the CIA and FBI won a court ruling in the US, exempting them from releasing documentation requested by British members of parliament.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cia-wins-fight-to-keep-mps-in-dark-on-rendition-7631357.html |newspaper=The Independent| title=CIA wins fight to keep MPs in dark on rendition|date=11 April 2012|access-date=27 March 2013}}</ref> It later emerged that relevant 2002 flight records from Diego Garcia had been destroyed by [[water damage]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Evening Standard]]|location=London|page=15|last=Leith|first=Sam|title=To back up, or not to back up|date=14 July 2014}}</ref>