More on NC's role in CIA torture

From an email from NC Commission of Inquiry on Torture:

Report Findings

After 18 months of investigation and research, including two days of public hearings last year, the Commission’s report reveals that:

• The role of Aero Contractors, based at the public Johnston County Airport in Smithfield, was larger than previously understood - during the first, developmental phase of the CIA’s global “black site” or secret prison system, from September 2001 to March 2004, Aero flew over 80% of all identified CIA renditions.

• Rendition was not just transportation to torture – it was an essential part of the CIA’s torture process.  The goal of rendition was to “dehumanize” the individual before interrogation.  The violent nature of renditions themselves, which have never been investigated by a U.S. government entity, amounted to torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

• Neglect by North Carolina and Johnston County officials of their duty to investigate credible information on crimes committed using their airports, effectively has made them sponsors of illegal and immoral activity.

• The use of torture has immense costs for our country in national security and intelligence gathering. It undermines the rule of law and erodes our ability to be moral leaders.  Impunity for government torture has negatively shaped public attitudes toward Muslims and made our society more cruel. Torture has stained Johnston County, North Carolina, and our nation.