Boeing faces lawsuit for cooperation in U.S. extraordinary rendition practices

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) plans to file a lawsuit against a Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen, in California today, the International Herald Tribune reported Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed under the Alien Tort Act of 1789, seeks to take legal action for Jeppesen’s role in providing flight-support services for the U.S. practice of extraordinary rendition.

Extraordinary rendition, which the European Parliament has deemed an illegal act under international law, has allowed CIA officers to arrest, transport and interrogate terrorist suspects following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The ACLU lawsuit focuses on the circumstances pertaining to four men: Kassim Britel, a Moroccan-born Italian citizen, Khled el-Masri, a German citizen who was mistaken for a terrorist and abducted, an Egyptian requesting asylum in Sweden, and an Ethiopian residing in England.

“Evidence points to Jeppesen as a major player in the extraordinary rendition program,” said ACLU staff lawyer Steven Watt. “European flight logs identifying Jeppesen reveal that over a four-year period, the company was actively involved in the provision of flight and logistical support services to at least 15 aircraft which, European investigations confirm, were used by the CIA in its program of extraordinary rendition. The evidence here also points to Jeppesen contracting to profit from torture.”

“Without Jeppesen's services, the planes would never have been able to make those flights,” said Francesca Longhi, the Italian attorney for Kassim Britel. “If Jeppesen hadn't serviced the CIA's Gulfstream V, my client would never have been illegally deported to Morocco, where he has endured months of torture and years of illegal detention that is still going on.”

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For information on the ACLU lawsuit, click here.

For the ACLU press release, click here.