Pentagon Expands Rendition

A Feb. 5 memorandum from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeldcounsels support for a plan to transfer hundreds of suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to prisons in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen. The transfers would be similar to the "renditions, or transfers of captives to other countries, carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency," a policy that exposes prisoners to abuse and violates the international Convention Against Torture (Article 3). Reports indicate the administration has already shipped prisoners off toSyria and Egypt, both of which are cited for their abuse of human rights and poor treatment of prisoners in the State Department’s Human Rights Reports released last month. Rumsfeld appears to be trying to convince officials from the State and Justice departments to go along with the plan. Those agencies have "resisted some previous handovers, out of concern that transferring the prisoners to foreign governments could harm American security or subject the prisoners to mistreatment."