Sunday, June 3, 2007

ACLU sues Boeing subsidiary for allegedly facilitating CIA torture


ACLU sues Boeing subsidiary for allegedly facilitating CIA torture, JURIST - Paper Chase, May 30, 2007. The ACLU alleges that Jeppesen Dataplan knowingly provided flights to CIA prisons ("extraordinary rendition") and thus enabled the torture of U.S. detainees.

I looked up a story about this I heard on NPR because I remembered the line: "The ACLU says this is a first for them — to accuse a blue-chip American company of "profiting from torture." ACLU Suit Says Boeing Unit Profited from Torture, May 31, 2007. The NPR story (which you can listen to online) explains that Jeppesen Dataplan's business is providing logistical support -- working on flight plans and so on for its clients to help them get from point A to point B. The suit alleges that they helped with some 70 extraordinary renditions. The company says that its plan is helping its clients go where they ask to go; it doesn't ask why they want to go there or what they plan to do there. (The company's website bears the slogan "Making Every Mission Possible.")

The NPR correspondent predicts that the CIA will intervene to get the case shut down for reasons of national security.

Graphic from A Pilot's Guide to Aviation Weather Services, NOAA.

1 comment:

Jay Taber said...

Ordinary Men just doing their jobs.