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"The registered owners of both planes [Boeing 737, N313P, and Gulfstream V, N379P] appear to be [[CIA]] [[front companies]]. Previous attempts by the ''Tribune'' to contact the owners produced a trail of non-existent people at unlikely addresses, or law firms that did not want to discuss the nature of their interest in aviation. Both planes have been involved in rendition cases documented by the ''Tribune'', other media and [[EU]] investigators," states the [[Chicago]] daily on page 14. <ref>Hundley, Tom, "Remote Polish airstrip holds clues to secret CIA flights", ''Chicago Tribune'', Tuesday, February 6, 2007, Volume 160, Number 37, page 1, 14.</ref>
"The registered owners of both planes [Boeing 737, N313P, and Gulfstream V, N379P] appear to be [[CIA]] [[front companies]]. Previous attempts by the ''Tribune'' to contact the owners produced a trail of non-existent people at unlikely addresses, or law firms that did not want to discuss the nature of their interest in aviation. Both planes have been involved in rendition cases documented by the ''Tribune'', other media and [[EU]] investigators," states the [[Chicago]] daily on page 14. <ref>Hundley, Tom, "Remote Polish airstrip holds clues to secret CIA flights", ''Chicago Tribune'', Tuesday, February 6, 2007, Volume 160, Number 37, page 1, 14.</ref>

The N313P registration for a Boeing 737 was subsequently cancelled, and it was reassigned to an experimental [[RV-7A]], c.n 70837, built by Richard E. Griff, and owned by Gary E. Matusch of Vancouver, Washington, registered 28 June 2007.


==N4476S==
==N4476S==

Revision as of 08:54, 3 August 2007

File:560175.jpg
Gulfstream N44982 with an earlier tail number, sitting in Geneva

Rendition aircraft are aircraft used by national governments to move prisoners internationally, a practice known as rendition, sometimes referred to as extraordinary rendition. The aircraft listed in this article have been identified in international news media as being used for prisoner transports.

N221SG

N221SG is a non-descript Learjet 35 with the tail number "N221SG", reported in the media to possibly be used as a US Department of Defense prisoner transport. The plane is registered to Path Corporation of Rehoboth Beach Delaware, identified as a CIA front company.[1][2][verification needed]

When the aircraft landed in Copenhagen, Denmark on March 7, 2005, the Danish opposition party Red-Green Alliance demanded an explanation of the plane's presence.[3][4]

The last flight originated in Istanbul, Turkey on 7 March 2005. Turkish media reported at the time that individuals of interest to the CIA captured by the country’s security services were to be handed over to the American intelligence agency.[citation needed]

N313P

N313P is a Boeing 737 that the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday, February 6, 2007, flew from Tashkent to Kabul, Afghanistan on September 21, 2003, and then to Szczytno-Szymany International Airport in Poland, landing at 9 p.m. "It stayed on the ground for 57 minutes before taking off for Baneasa Airport in Bucharest, Romania, an airport that, according to the Marty Report, 'bears all the characteristics of a detainee transfer or drop-off point,'" states author Tom Hundley on page 14 of the Tribune. The 737 then continued on to Rabat, Morocco, and Guantanamo Bay, the Marty Report said.

"The registered owners of both planes [Boeing 737, N313P, and Gulfstream V, N379P] appear to be CIA front companies. Previous attempts by the Tribune to contact the owners produced a trail of non-existent people at unlikely addresses, or law firms that did not want to discuss the nature of their interest in aviation. Both planes have been involved in rendition cases documented by the Tribune, other media and EU investigators," states the Chicago daily on page 14. [5]

The N313P registration for a Boeing 737 was subsequently cancelled, and it was reassigned to an experimental RV-7A, c.n 70837, built by Richard E. Griff, and owned by Gary E. Matusch of Vancouver, Washington, registered 28 June 2007.

N4476S

N4476S (manufacturer's construction number 33010/1037) is a plain white 737-7BC[6] Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) with the tail number "N4476S", owned by Keeler & Tate Management and is reported by news media to be used as a US Department of Defense prisoner transport.[7] It is also known as the "Guantánamo Bay Express".[citation needed] The aircraft was previously registered N313P, and owned by Premier Executive Transport Services.

N44982

The executive jet with the tail number N44982[8] (the registration is no longer current; it was also formerly N8068V[9], N379P[10] and originally N581GA[11]) has been reported in several press sources as a U.S. Department of Defense prisoner transport, also known as "Guantánamo Bay Express". The craft has been reported to be a transporter of suspected terrorists to undisclosed locations for either extraordinary rendition or into the CIA prison system.

According to an in-depth investigation into the worldwide network of detention and interrogation facilities employed in the War on Terror, by the British Guardian newspaper, (March 2005):[12]

We were able to chart the toing and froing of the private executive jet used at [an abduction in Sweden] partly through the observations of plane-spotters posted on the web and partly through a senior source in the Pakistan Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI). It was a Gulfstream V Turbo, tailfin number N379P; its flight plans always began at an airstrip in Smithfield, North Carolina, and ended in some of the world's hot spots. It was owned by Premier Executive Transport Services, incorporated in Delaware, a brass plaque company with nonexistent directors, hired by American agents to revive an old CIA tactic from the 1970s, when agency men had kidnapped South American criminals and flown them back to their own countries to face trial so that justice could be rendered. Now "rendering" was being used by the Bush administration to evade justice. Robert Baer, a CIA case officer in the Middle East until 1997, told us how it works. "We pick up a suspect or we arrange for one of our partner countries to do it. Then the suspect is placed on civilian transport to a third country where, let's make no bones about it, they use torture. If you want a good interrogation, you send someone to Jordan. If you want them to be killed, you send them to Egypt or Syria. Either way, the U.S. cannot be blamed as it is not doing the heavy work."

Background

The first media mention of N379P was six weeks after September 11, 2001, when, according to the Chicago Tribune, a Pakistani newspaper reported that a student at the University of Karachi and a citizen of Yemen, had been seen being forced onto the plane at Jinnah International Airport by Pakistani security officers on the morning of 23 October 2001.[13] The Chicago Tribune reported on the aircraft again on February 6, 2007 stating that N379P departed Washington Dulles International Airport July 27, 2003, and flew to Frankfurt, Germany according to FAA records. The FAA then records the Gulfstream taking off from Tashkent, Uzbekistan on July 31, 2003, bound for Glasgow, Scotland, and then return to Dulles. The Tribune then states that Polish aviation records indicate that N379P landed at Mazury-Szczytno International Airport, a remote airfield at Szymany, Poland, at 2:58 a.m. on July 30, 2003 after a flight from Afghanistan. How the aircraft moved from from Frankfurt to Tashkent remains unreported.[14] The Szymany airport is located southwest of the Stare Kiejkuty intelligence base in northern Poland.

The executive jet with the tail number N379P was again brought to public attention by Swedish TV4's documentary, Det brutna löftet ("The broken promise"), aired 17 May 2004. The documentary claimed that the expulsion of two men, Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery - ordered by the Cabinet - to Egypt on December 18, 2001 was carried out by hooded U.S. agents. The plane booked by the Swedish Security Police (SÄPO) was cancelled when another plane arrived - N379P - a Gulfstream V executive jet supplied by the firm (Premier Executive Transport Services, Inc.) which works exclusively for the U.S. Defense Department.[15]

Later on, when the Gulfstream's log books came into a journalist's hands, the wider scope became clear:[16]

Analysis of the plane's flight plans, covering more than two years, shows that it always departs from Washington DC. It has flown to 49 destinations outside America, including the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba and other U.S. military bases, as well as Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Afghanistan, Libya and Uzbekistan. Witnesses have claimed that the suspects are frequently bound, gagged and sedated before being put on board the planes, which do not have special facilities for prisoners but are kitted out with tables for meetings and screens for presentations and in-flight films."

The Central Intelligence Agency has declined to discuss the plane. But one retired CIA officer said that he understood the Gulfstream had been operated by the Joint Special Operations Command, an interagency unit that organizes counterterrorist operations in conjunction with the CIA and military special forces.[citation needed]

Hobbyist plane spotters reporting the plane's whereabouts somewhat confirm the flight logs. On September 22, 2003 the plane flew directly from Kabul, Afghanistan to the Szczytno-Szymany International Airport in Poland, which is close to a Polish secret service training base located near the town of Stare Kiejkuty.[17] The following day it arrived Mihail Kogălniceanu Airfield, Romania, from whence it departed to Morocco and ultimately Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.[citation needed]

In November 2005, Canada announced it was investigating the reports that the plane had landed in Eastern Canada without permission. [citation needed] That same month, the plane was retired and put up for sale.[citation needed]

Registration History

Originally N581GA, it became N379P in 2000 when it was acquired by Premier Executive Transport Services. In December 2003, it became N8068V. On 1 December, 2004 it was renamed N44982, and ownership was transferred to Bayard Foreign Marketing, an apparent shell company registered in Portland, Oregon. It was renamed once more on January 20, 2006 to N126CH, and registered to XXXXX, 2930 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33137-4122. It was sold and reregistered to Wilmington Trust Company, 1100 N Market St, Wilmington, Delaware on August 18, 2006.[18]

Disappearance from the FAA's online registry

Sometime in late 2006, the records for N44982[19] and N4476S seem to have disappeared from the FAA's registration database.

N85VM/N227SV

N85VM is a white Gulfstream IV jet aircraft with the tail number "N85VM", reported in the media as possibly being used as a US Department of Defense or CIA prisoner transport.[20] The plane, owned by one of the partners of the Boston Red Sox, was seen in Cairo on February 18, 2003, wearing the teams logos.[21][22] Because of the timing of the aircraft's arrivial and departure, it was linked by the media as possibly the aircraft used to render Abu Omar, who had been captured in Italy and taken to Cairo where he was imprisoned by the Egyptians[21]

Between June, 2002 and January 2005, the aircraft made 51 trips to Guantánamo Bay, as well as 82 visits to Dulles International Airport and Andrews Air Force Base. It also visited U.S. air bases at Ramstein and Rhein-Main in Germany, Afghanistan, Morocco, Dubai, Jordan, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic.[21]

The aircraft was subsequently re-registered N227SV, with ownership being Assembly Point Aviation, which offers the aircraft for charter.[21]

JGO call sign

In February 2007 it was reported that the JGO (Juliet Golf Oscar) former call sign assigned to defunct airline Jetsgo was allegedly used for planes going in and out of the Balkans, including Learjet 35 executive jets, C-130 transport planes and MC-130P Combat Shadows. A Sunday Times analysis of flight plans and radio logs has placed these aircraft at locations including Tuzla in Bosnia, Pristina in Kosovo, and Aviano Air Base in Northern Italy, as well as Ramstein, headquarters of the US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). On December 11, 2004, USAFE in Ramstein filed a flight plan for a Learjet 35 to fly from Tuzla to Aviano. USAFE changed its registration in flight, while keeping its humanitarian, diplomatic and governmental status. While on ground at Tuzla in Bosnia, an Ilyushin 76 left Tuzla 55 minutes before, with 45 tons of surplus weapons and ammunitions which were sold off by the Bosnian military (at the time member of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and destined to Rwanda. The latter country was subjected to a UN embargo on arms-trade. An Amnesty International report quoted by the British newspapers suggested that "US security authorities were engaged in a covert operation to ferry arms to Rwanda in the face of political opposition from the European Union".

Another strange convergence of flights happened in February 2004, according to the Sunday Times. An MC-130P Combat Shadow using the call sign JGO 50 took off from Aviano to an unknown destination on February 24. Two days later, he left Pristina for Tuzla. A short time after, a Gulfstream 5 executive jet (call sign JGO 47) flew from Tuzla to Aviano. The next day, a Learjet 35 left Aviano for an unknown destination, using call sign SPAR 92.

SPAR is short for Special Air Resources, a US military aircraft service that transport civilians VIP and senior military officers. But SPAR 92 has been identified as the aircraft which was used to transport Hassan Nasr (aka Abu Omar), the cleric kidnapped in Italy in 2003 and for which CIA agents have been indicted in Italy, in what is known as the Imam Rapito case.

The US military denied the reports and stated that aircraft using the call sign were involved in a programme called "Joint Guard Operations" for the NATO-European peacekeeping mission in the Balkans (which established the SFOR). However, "Joint Guard" ended in 1998. Inquiries also show that none of the US aircraft deployed in it match ones using the JGO call-sign.[23]

Boeing Jeppessen International Trip Planning

On October 23, 2006, the New Yorker claimed that Jeppesen International Trip Planning, a subsidiary of Boeing, handled the logistical planning for the CIA's extraordinary rendition flights. The allegation is based on information from an ex-employee who quoted Bob Overby, managing director of the company as saying "We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights—you know, the torture flights. Let’s face it, some of these flights end up that way." The article went on to suggest that this may make Jeppesen a potential defendant in a law suit by Khaled El-Masri.[24]

Investigations concerning CIA flights

Apart of investigations concerning the extraordinary rendition program (see in particular the European Parliament February 2007 report, which concluded that the CIA had operated 1,245 flights on European territory[25]), several European countries have opened specific investigations concerning CIA flights.

Shannon Airport, Ireland

The government of the Republic of Ireland has come under internal and external pressure to inspect airplanes at Shannon Airport to investigate whether or not they contain extraordinary rendition captives.[26][27]

July 2005 opening of investigations in France

The French attorney general of Bobigny opened up an instruction in order "to verify the presence in Le Bourget Airport, on July 20, 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 January 20, 2006, and that no verifications had been done before. On December 2, 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 July 20 2005, coming from Oslo, Norway. The other suspected aircraft would have landed in Brest on March 31, 2002. It is 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.[28]

November 2005 opening of investigations in Spain

In November 2005, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that CIA planes had landed in the Canary Islands and in Palma de Mallorca. An attorney opened up an investigation concerning these landings which, according to Madrid, were made without official knowledge, thus being a breach of national sovereignty.[29][30][31]

Germany

Business daily Handelsblatt reported November 24, 2005, that the CIA still uses 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, the Rhein-Main Air Base and others. The newspaper cited experts and "plane-spotters" who observed the planes as responsible for the tally.[32]

2007 Investigations in Portugal

Portugal opened up an investigation concerning CIA flights in February 2007, on the basics of declarations by Socialist 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 February 5, 2007. They will be centered on the issue of "torture or inhuman and cruel treatment," and instigated by illegationsn of "illegal activities and serious human rights violations" made by MEP Ana Gomes to the attorney general, Pinto Monteiro, on January 26, 2007.[33]

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.[34] 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 same party. Ana Gomes declared herself satisfied with the opening of the investigations, but underlined that she had alwa&ys claimed that a parliamentary inquiry would be necessary.[33]

On the other hand, journalist Rui Costa Pinto was heard by the DCIAP, as she had written an article, refused by Visão, about flights passing by Lajes Field, a Portuguese airbase used by the US airforces, in the Azores.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

See also

References

  1. ^ N221SG FAA registration record
  2. ^ Indymedia UK
  3. ^ "New CIA torture flights row", The Copenhagen Post, March 11, 2005
  4. ^ Template:Da icon Secret Flight Lands in Danmark TV2 Nyhederne October 29 2005
  5. ^ Hundley, Tom, "Remote Polish airstrip holds clues to secret CIA flights", Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, February 6, 2007, Volume 160, Number 37, page 1, 14.
  6. ^ Airliner serial number database
  7. ^ Grey, Stephen, "Details of US 'torture by proxy flights' emerge", The Times, archived by NotInOurName.net
  8. ^ "FAA Registry (N44982)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  9. ^ "FAA Registry (N8068V)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  10. ^ "FAA Registry (N379P)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  11. ^ "FAA Registry (N581GA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  12. ^ "One Huge US Jail", The Guardian, March 19, 2005
  13. ^ "Who is Leonard T. Bayard?" quotes the Chicago Tribune
  14. ^ Hundley, Tom, "Remote Polish airstrip holds clues to secret CIA flights", Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, February 6, 2007, Volume 160, Number 37, page 1, 14.
  15. ^ Washington Post report
  16. ^ Not In Our Name.net
  17. ^ Hunt for CIA 'black site' in Poland, BBC, 28 December 2006
  18. ^ FAA registration record
  19. ^ "FAA Registry (N44982)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  20. ^ Edes, Gordon, "CIA uses jet, Red Sox partner confirms", The Boston Globe, March 21,2005
  21. ^ a b c d Crewdson, John, "Jet's Travels Cloaked in Mystery", Chicago Tribune, March 20, 2005, archived at CommonDreams.org
  22. ^ Airshow photos
  23. ^ US military planes criss-cross Europe using bogus call sign February 17 2007 The Sunday Times.
  24. ^ Mayer, Jane. The C.I.A.'s Travel Agent. The New Yorker. 2006-10-23.
  25. ^ "EU endorses damning report on CIA". BBC. February 14 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ "US 'torture flights' stopped at Shannon". The Times. November 14 2004. Retrieved 2005-09-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ "Investigations into CIA 'torture flights'". The Village. November 25 2005. Retrieved 2006-09-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Template:Fr"La France enquête sur les avions de la CIA". Le Figaro. February 2 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "El Gobierno canario pide explicaciones sobre vuelos de la CIA en Tenerife". El Pais. 16 November 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ "La Fiscalía de Canarias investigará las escalas de vuelos de la CIA en Tenerife y Gran Canaria". El Mundo. 18 November 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ "Un supuesto avión de la CIA aterriza en la base portuguesa de Azores". Canarias 7. 28 November 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ "CIA Uses German Bases to Transport Terrorists, Paper Says : Europe : Deutsche Welle : 25.11.2005". Retrieved 2005-12-18.
  33. ^ a b "Portugal: Renditions: Judicial investigation into CIA flights begins", Statewatch News Online, February 5-6, 2007 (available here) Template:En icon
  34. ^ Portugal/CIA.- La Fiscalía General abre una investigación sobre los supuestos vuelos ilegales de la CIA en Portugal, Europa Press, February 5, 2007 Template:Es icon

External links

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