"Rendering" of suspects

Fri Mar 18 20:33:11 UTC 2005

Back in Oct. 2002, the "rendition" of terrorism suspects first came up on
the list:

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http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0210C&L=ads-l&P=R7146

Thomas Joyce:
>Rendition is the euphemism for a process by which a terrorism
>suspect is given over to the custody of another country for
>detention and interrogation free from American legal restrictions.
>There seems to be an implied transitive verb here, but what is it?

Larry Horn:
>I'm afraid it's "rendre." Some uses of (Fr.) "rendre" translate to
>"render", but this one doesn't (yet).

Thomas Joyce:
>I suppose it must be so. But if anybody starts talking about
>rendering a suspect, I will have visions of boiling vats.
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Well, the "rendering" of suspects has already entered public discourse,
and it should probably receive some WOTY consideration (at least for
euphemism of the year):

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050317-4.html
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan, March 17, 2005

Q Are these reports wrong, or does he not believe that there's torture
going on in these countries where these prisoners are being rendered back
to?
MR. McCLELLAN: When people are rendered to another country, we seek
assurances that they won't be tortured. When we return known terrorists to
their countries of origin, or we render people to countries, we want to
have assurances that they're not going to be tortured, because that's a
value that we hold very dearly. ... But we do take very seriously what our
obligations are, and we have an obligation not to render people to
countries if we believe they're going to be tortured. ...
Q Scott, on renditions, has the United States ever rendered prisoners to
countries other than their country of origin?
MR. McCLELLAN: Ken, I'm not going to get into talking about any specific
matters, and that would be getting into talking about specific matters.
But I think I addressed that question earlier when I said that we have an
obligation not to render people to countries if we believe they're going
to be tortured.
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A swing through Nexis suggests that "rendering" has been used by the
intelligence community at least since 9/11, though it took some
investigative reporting by the Washington Post in 2002 and 2004 for the
term to become widely known.

The cites below trace a shift in usage: "render (someone) to justice" >
"render (someone) to a third country" > "render (someone)".

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Boston Globe, October 7, 2001, p. A1
"These are not abductions, these are renditions," said the official,
speaking on condition of anonymity. "If they are wanted by foreign
governments and there is concern that they are involved in terrorist
activities, the idea is to render them to justice."
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Washington Post, March 11, 2002, p. A1
Between 1993 and 1999, terrorism suspects also were rendered to the United
States from Nigeria, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa in operations
acknowledged by U.S. officials. ... Even when local intelligence agents
are involved, diplomats said it is preferable to render a suspect secretly
because it prevents lengthy court battles and minimizes publicity that
could tip off the detainee's associates. Rendering suspects to a third
country, particularly Muslim nations such as Egypt or Jordan, also helps
to defuse domestic political concerns in predominantly Muslim nations such
as Indonesia, the diplomats said.
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Washington Post, December 26, 2002, p. A1
Those who cooperate are rewarded with creature comforts, interrogators
whose methods include feigned friendship, respect, cultural sensitivity
and, in some cases, money. Some who do not cooperate are turned over --
"rendered," in official parlance -- to foreign intelligence services whose
practice of torture has been documented by the U.S. government and human
rights organizations. ...  Some officials estimated that fewer than 100
captives have been rendered to third countries. ... The CIA's
participation in the interrogation of rendered terrorist suspects varies
from country to country.
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Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), January 19, 2003, p. 4C
In the CIA's euphemistic parlance, captives are "rendered" into foreign
hands, and these "extraordinary renditions" are said to give the CIA
"operational flexibility" in dealing with suspects.
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Washington Post, July 29, 2004, p. A8
The exact number of people "rendered" or moved to foreign countries with
U.S. assistance is unknown, but two cases have received widespread
publicity.
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Washington Post, December 27, 2004, p. A1
Ahmed Agiza was convicted by Egypt's Supreme Military Court of
terrorism-related charges; Muhammad Zery was set free. Both say they were
tortured while in Egyptian custody. Sweden has opened an investigation
into the decision to allow them to be rendered.
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Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2005, p. 1
"It's a growth industry," said a recently retired CIA clandestine officer
who worked on several "renditions" in the Arab world. "We rendered a lot
of people to Egypt, Jordan and the Saudis in particular.... Ultimately,
the agency just wants these people to disappear forever."
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New York Times, February 11, 2005, p. 25
As Ms. Mayer pointed out: "Terrorism suspects in Europe, Africa, Asia and
the Middle East have often been abducted by hooded or masked American
agents, then forced onto a Gulfstream V jet, like the one described by
Arar. ... Upon arriving in foreign countries, rendered suspects often
vanish. Detainees are not provided with lawyers, and many families are not
informed of their whereabouts."
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New York Times, February 18, 2005, p. 27
Rendition most commonly refers to the extrajudicial transfer of
individuals from a foreign country to the United States for the purpose of
answering criminal charges. Think, for example, of a drug kingpin who is
abducted in Colombia and brought to the U.S. to stand trial for
trafficking. The defendant is said to have been "rendered" to justice in
the U.S.
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Boston Globe, March 2, 2005, A1
A State Department translator testified on Jan. 13 that US officials had
tried to pressure the country's former president into skipping a trial and
"rendering" Bashir to US officials, perhaps to be sent to a third country
where torture is allowed.
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New York Times, March 6, 2005 p. 1
In an interview, the senior official defended renditions as one among
several important tools in counterterrorism efforts. "The intelligence
obtained by those rendered, detained and interrogated have disrupted
terrorist operations," the official said. "It has saved lives in the
United States and abroad, and it has resulted in the capture of other
terrorists."
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Washington Post, March 9, 2005, A21
Rendition is the CIA's antiseptic term for its practice of sending
captured terrorist suspects to other countries for interrogation. Because
some of those countries torture prisoners -- and because some of the
suspected terrorists "rendered" by the CIA say they were in fact tortured
-- the debate has tended to lump rendition and torture together.
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Boston Globe, March 12, 2005, p. A11
The clandestine nature of "torture outsourcing" makes it difficult to know
the total numbers of those rendered by the Bush administration.
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Washington Post, March 17, 2005, A1
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said in an interview last week that,
once a transfer occurs, "we can't fully control what that country might
do. We obviously expect a country to whom we have rendered a detainee to
comply with their representations to us. If you're asking me 'Does a
country always comply?,' I don't have an answer to that."
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--Ben Zimmer