The Concepts

Abstract

Extraordinary rendition involves the extrajudicial transfer of persons from one jurisdiction or State to another, for the purposes of detention and interrogation outside the normal legal system, where there is a real risk of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It is a practice that is primarily identified with the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Programme which was implemented in the aftermath of 9/11 with the active and passive cooperation of many States in Europe. In recent years, there have been widespread demands for “accountability” on the part of European States for their “complicity” in extraordinary rendition. This chapter highlights how accountability can take different forms and how the concept of “complicity” itself is also a complex concept requiring consideration of multiple factors. It points to the focus of the book as an effort to determine when States can be held legally accountable for complicity in extraordinary rendition. “Legal accountability” is understood as a concept that demands an assessment of whether a State is responsible for a breach of the law and crucially the provision of redress or acknowledgement of state responsibility. The focus on legal accountability is justifiable on the basis that a finding of legal responsibility in the context of a legal accountability process inevitably increases the odds of political accountability for complicit States.