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ACLU Nails Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., & C.I.A. for War Crimes
The War Criminals at Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., who have been involved in the dirty work of the C.I.A., including kidnappings, renditions, and torture are exposed for all to see... Send your comments by way of http://anonymouse.org/ to; ifs [at] jeppesen.com
ACLU Opposes Government’s Attempt to Throw Out Rendition Case Under Guise of "State Secrets" (12/14/2007)
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/rendition/33225prs20071214.html
Former Boeing Subsidiary Employee Says He Was Told About "Torture Flights"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media [at] aclu.org; (212) 549-2666
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed legal papers opposing the CIA’s attempt to throw out a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for its participation in the CIA’s "extraordinary rendition" program. The ACLU charged that the U.S. government is improperly invoking the "state secrets" privilege to avoid judicial scrutiny of this unlawful policy.
"Once again, the CIA is seeking to cut off judicial inquiry in order to avoid accountability for its illegal torture policies," said Ben Wizner, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Legal Department. "The government’s motion, which purports to protect the nation from disclosure of information that the entire world already knows, is a cynical attempt to cover up an illegal and immoral program under the guise of national security."
Today’s filing comes in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of five victims of the rendition program who were kidnapped and secretly transferred by the CIA to U.S.-run overseas prisons or foreign intelligence agencies where they were interrogated and tortured. According to the lawsuit, Jeppesen knowingly provided flight planning and essential logistical support to aircraft and crew used by the CIA for the clandestine rendition flights. After the lawsuit was filed, the U.S. government intervened to seek its dismissal, contending that further litigation of the case would be harmful to national security. However, the information needed to pursue this lawsuit, including details about the rendition program, is already in the public domain.
Jeppesen’s involvement in the program is also a matter of public record. It has been confirmed by extensive documentary evidence and eyewitness testimony, including the sworn declaration of former Jeppesen employee Sean Belcher, which was submitted in support of today’s ACLU filing. Belcher reports that Bob Overby, a senior Jeppesen official, announced at a company meeting for new employees that Jeppesen did "all the extraordinary rendition flights," which he then described as "torture flights." According to Belcher, Overby added, "Let’s face it, some of these flights end up this way," and spoke about how profitable these flights were.
"Five men have been brutally abused with the help of a U.S. corporation, and they deserve their day in court," said Steven Watt, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. "Jeppesen must not be given a free pass for its profitable participation in a torture program."
It has been 50 years since the United States Supreme Court last reviewed the use of the "state secrets" privilege. In recent years, the government has asserted this claim with increasing regularity in an attempt to throw out lawsuits and justify withholding information from the public not only about the rendition program, but also about illegal wiretapping, torture, and other breaches of U.S. and international law. The Supreme Court recently refused to review the "state secrets" privilege in a lawsuit brought by Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen also represented by the ACLU, who was kidnapped and rendered to detention, interrogation, and torture in a CIA "black site" prison in Afghanistan.
The Jeppesen lawsuit was brought on behalf of five rendition victims: Binyam Mohamed, Abou Elkassim Britel, Ahmed Agiza, Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah, and Bisher Al-Rawi.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
In addition to Wizner and Watt, attorneys on the Jeppesen lawsuit are national ACLU Legal Director Steven Shapiro, Jameel Jaffer of the national ACLU, Ann Brick of the ACLU of Northern California, Paul Hoffman of Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP, and Hope Metcalf of the Yale Law School Lowenstein Clinic. In addition, Margaret L. Satterthwaite of the International Human Rights Clinic of New York University School of Law represents Bashmilah, and Clive Stafford-Smith and Zachary Katznelson represent Mohamed.
A copy of the ACLU’s brief can be found online at:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/rendition/33205lgl20071214.html
A copy of the declaration of Sean Belcher can be found online at: http://www.aclu.org/safefree/rendition/33223lgl20071015.html
More information on the ACLU’s lawsuit against Jeppesen, the rendition victims it represents, and other work in its fight against rendition can be found online at: http://www.aclu.org/rendition
Click below for more on C.I.A. Rendition Information and ACLU lawsuit against Jeppesen...
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/rendition/index.html
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Human Relations Commission & Jeppesen Dataplan anti-torture flights resolution...
San Jose's problems with Jeppesen's War Criminals operating in their city... Click below for more...
http://tinyurl.com/26thrs
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Jeppesen Services
International Trip Planning
(Send your comments to; ifs [at] jeppesen.com )
Western Hemisphere
Jeppesen DataPlan
225 West Santa Clara Street
Suite 1600
San Jose, CA 95113-1723
+1-408-963-2000 (Phone)
+1-877-JEPP-ITP (U.S. & Canada Toll Free)
+1-408-961-5362 (Fax)
ifs [at] jeppesen.com
Click below for your trip into the heart of the EWar Criminals operating out of Jeppesen.........
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-http://www.cgi/http://web.archive.org/web/20070608031506/http://cfs.jeppesen.com/public/content.jsp?id=aboutUs
Click below for more Jeppesen links...
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-http://www.cgi/http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://cfs.jeppesen.com/public/content.jsp?id=aboutUs
**************
Robert W. Overby, exposed...
Belcher reports that Bob Overby, a senior Jeppesen official, announced at a company meeting for new employees that Jeppesen did "all the extraordinary rendition flights," which he then described as "torture flights." According to Belcher, Overby added, "Let’s face it, some of these flights end up this way," and spoke about how profitable these flights were.
ROBERT W OVERBY Born 1956
1345 DE LOACH CT
SAN JOSE, CA 95125
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Maintenance Services
Fleet Enhancements
Flight Operations
Airplane Turntime Analysis
Airport Technology
Alteon Flight Training
Configured Dispatch Deviation Guide Service
Electronic Flight Bag
Flight Operations Training
Flight Training & Technical Data
Jeppesen Charting and Navigation Services
Jeppesen Crew Management Suite
Jeppesen Flight Planning
Jeppesen International Trip Planning
Jeppesen OPSControl
Simulator Data Sales
GoldCare
News and Events
Subsidiaries
Downloads
Other Services
Industry Information
News & Images
Jeppesen International Trip Planning
Jeppesen offers everything needed for efficient, hassle-free international flight operations. Before departure, Jeppesen will procure landing and overflight permits, arrange fuel and ground handling, and make hotel and ground transfer accommodations. During the trip Jeppesen monitors political and security situations and offers web access to weather and other trip specific information plus general operating information. After the trip, Jeppesen delivers detailed and easy to read invoices free from hidden fees and other post-trip surprises.
From Aachen to Zhengzhou, King Airs to 747s, Jeppesen has done it all.
For more information, please visit the Jeppesen Web site.
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/flightops/itp.html
*****************
Ex-Worker: Air Firm Aided CIA Renditions
By JASON DEAREN – (December 15, 2007 - 1 day ago)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Boeing subsidiary accused of helping the CIA secretly fly terrorism suspects to be tortured in overseas prisons openly acknowledged its role in the "extraordinary rendition" program, a former employee of the smaller company said in court papers Friday.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jEcpAO94pyE2bkHoA5RqWepOycdwD8THLONG0
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Ex-San Jose aviation firm worker says exec talked of torture flights
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, December 15, 2007
A former employee of a San Jose aviation company that is accused in a lawsuit of helping the CIA fly prisoners to overseas torture chambers said a company executive told staff last year, "We do all the extraordinary rendition flights ... the torture flights," according to a statement released Friday by the prisoners' lawyers.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/15/MN56TV358.DTL
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More on Bob Overby, of Jeppesen...
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-http://www.cgi/http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Bob+Overby%2C+Jeppesen&btnG=Google+Search
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Human Rights links & Jeppesen's War Criminal problems...
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-http://www.cgi/http://www.business-humanrights.org/Search/SearchResults?SearchableText=jeppesen
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Bush Administration Rebukes Congress and Courts, Stymieing Investigations of Destroyed CIA Videotapes (12/15/2007)
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/33228prs20071215.html?s_src=RSS
(Updated 12/15/2007)
ACLU Calls it a Threat to Constitutional Checks and Balances
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media [at] aclu.org
NEW YORK -- In a stunning rebuke of the constitutional system of checks and balances, the Justice Department — in a single 24-hour period — has warned a federal judge to back off of his inquiry into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes, has told Congress to delay its own investigation into the matter, and has refused to cooperate with congressional inquiries into its own role in the elimination of the videotaped evidence.
In court documents filed late Friday night, administration lawyers warned U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy that demanding information about the destroyed tapes would interfere with Justice Department and congressional investigations. In 2005, Justice Kennedy ordered the government to preserve all evidence regarding the torture, abuse and mistreatment of Guantánamo Bay detainees. Five months later, the CIA destroyed two interrogation tapes of "high-value" detainees who would eventually be transferred to Guantánamo.
In a lawsuit concerning The American Civil Liberties Union's Freedom of Information Act request, federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein also ordered the government to produce evidence of detainee treatment and abuse overseas — evidence that would include the destroyed tapes. After learning of the tapes' destruction in violation of the judge's order, the ACLU requested that Judge Hellerstein hold the government in contempt. That request is now pending.
Additionally, the Department of Justice — led by new Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey — has asked congressional committees to back off of their own investigations into the destruction of the videotapes, which will most likely result in the postponement of a planned hearing next week at which two CIA officials were summoned to testify. The Justice Department has also refused to provide information to Congress about its own role in destroying the tapes.
The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union:
"The administration's attempt to obstruct legitimate and critical investigations into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes is stunning. It is a bold and shameless frontal assault on the oversight roles of both Congress and the courts, which are co-equal branches of government. Our democracy cannot function without separation of powers, meant to provide a system of checks and balances so that no branch of government can dominate the other two. The Bush administration's view of a unitary executive threatens that balance and Americans of all political stripes should be very concerned. Congress must finally take a stand and put an end to executive overreaching.
"The ACLU will continue to do its part through its contempt motion and other litigation to restore Constitutional integrity to this broken government."
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/33228prs20071215.html?s_src=RSS
(Updated 12/15/2007)
ACLU Calls it a Threat to Constitutional Checks and Balances
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media [at] aclu.org
NEW YORK -- In a stunning rebuke of the constitutional system of checks and balances, the Justice Department — in a single 24-hour period — has warned a federal judge to back off of his inquiry into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes, has told Congress to delay its own investigation into the matter, and has refused to cooperate with congressional inquiries into its own role in the elimination of the videotaped evidence.
In court documents filed late Friday night, administration lawyers warned U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy that demanding information about the destroyed tapes would interfere with Justice Department and congressional investigations. In 2005, Justice Kennedy ordered the government to preserve all evidence regarding the torture, abuse and mistreatment of Guantánamo Bay detainees. Five months later, the CIA destroyed two interrogation tapes of "high-value" detainees who would eventually be transferred to Guantánamo.
In a lawsuit concerning The American Civil Liberties Union's Freedom of Information Act request, federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein also ordered the government to produce evidence of detainee treatment and abuse overseas — evidence that would include the destroyed tapes. After learning of the tapes' destruction in violation of the judge's order, the ACLU requested that Judge Hellerstein hold the government in contempt. That request is now pending.
Additionally, the Department of Justice — led by new Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey — has asked congressional committees to back off of their own investigations into the destruction of the videotapes, which will most likely result in the postponement of a planned hearing next week at which two CIA officials were summoned to testify. The Justice Department has also refused to provide information to Congress about its own role in destroying the tapes.
The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union:
"The administration's attempt to obstruct legitimate and critical investigations into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes is stunning. It is a bold and shameless frontal assault on the oversight roles of both Congress and the courts, which are co-equal branches of government. Our democracy cannot function without separation of powers, meant to provide a system of checks and balances so that no branch of government can dominate the other two. The Bush administration's view of a unitary executive threatens that balance and Americans of all political stripes should be very concerned. Congress must finally take a stand and put an end to executive overreaching.
"The ACLU will continue to do its part through its contempt motion and other litigation to restore Constitutional integrity to this broken government."
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