Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

Gaddafi opponents in Libya. Ten of the fourteen Libyans interviewed for this report
were rendered back to Libya within about year of the date when Libya, the United
States and the United Kingdom had formally mended their relations, seven within
the five months. The mending of relations was very publically marked by a visit
from British Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, to Libya on March 25, 2004. The
collusion is ironic, given that years later these same governments would end up
assisting Gaddafi’s opponents in their efforts to overthrow the Libyan leader. Several
of those opponents are now in leadership positions and are important political
actors in Libya.
• Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi: Al-Libi’s case is significant, among other reasons, because
the United States relied on statements obtained through his interrogation while in
CIA custody to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq: Al-Libi died in a Libyan prison in
2009—a suicide, according to Libyan authorities at the time—so it is difficult to obtain
information about him today. But by talking to family members and others
detained with him in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Libya, Human Rights Watch has
pieced together some new details about al-Libi’s time in CIA custody and circumstances
surrounding his death. Human Rights Watch also observed photos of al-
Libi that Libyan prison officials appear to have taken on the morning of his death
which allegedly depict him in the manner he was found in his cell. The photos
show bruising on parts of his body.
The United States, Libya, and most of the other countries discussed in this report are party
to important international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Persons apprehended in armed conflict situations
would also have been protected by the Geneva Conventions of 1949. These treaties
prohibit not only torture, but all cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Importantly, they
also prohibit sending an individual to a country where that person would face a genuine
risk of torture or ill-treatment.
In discussing rendition policies, former Bush administration officials have tried to justify
the forced returns that took place during the administration by saying they always got
“promises” from the receiving countries or “diplomatic assurances” the transferees would
be treated humanely. As evidenced by US State Department country reports on human
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