Boeing unit sued over CIA flights

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a Boeing Co. unit it accuses of helping the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency transfer foreign suspects to overseas prisons where it says they were held and tortured.

The New York-based rights group said it would file a suit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. on Wednesday, charging that the company provided flight and logistical support to at least 15 aircraft on 70 so-called "rendition" flights.

The suit, to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is being made on behalf of Binyam Mohamed, Abou Elkassim Britel and Ahmed Agiza, who the ACLU said were abducted by the CIA, detained and tortured.

The complaint alleges Jeppesen organized flights over a four-year period to countries "it knew or reasonably should have known that detainees are routinely tortured or otherwise abused in contravention of universally accepted standards."

"Extraordinary rendition should be condemned. It should not be seen as a source of corporate profit," Anthony Romero, ACLU executive director, told a news conference.

A European Parliament-backed report found at least 1,245 CIA flights were made into or over Europe in the four years after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Washington acknowledges the secret transfer of suspects to third countries but denies torturing them or handing them over to countries that did. Jeppesen declined to comment on the ACLU suit, and would not say if the CIA was a customer.

According to the ACLU, Jeppesen played a key role in what it called Washington's extraordinary rendition program, providing aircraft crew with itineraries, preparing flight plans, procuring landing permits from foreign governments and helping with customs clearance and ground transportation.