As many as 54 countries allegedly helped with CIA programmes in which terrorism suspects were held in secret prisons overseas or turned over to foreign governments for interrogation, a human rights organisation said in a report on Tuesday.
The report by the Open Society Justice Initiative said it focused mainly on human rights abuses associated with the CIA’s secret detention and “extraordinary rendition” operations after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The report, titled Globalising Torture, said its information was based on “credible public sources” and “reputable human rights organisations.”
The CIA declined comment on the report.
“Secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations, designed to be conducted outside the United States under cover of secrecy, could not have been implemented without the active participation of foreign governments. These governments too must be held accountable,” the report said.
Extraordinary rendition involved the transfer without a legal process of a detainee to the custody of a foreign government for the purposes of detention and interrogation, the report said.