Washington, DC -- Today, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) released the following statement on press reports detailing another unacceptable case of extraordinary rendition, the process of the U.S. government kidnapping suspects and flying them around the globe to black sites for interrogation, often in countries known to use torture:

“Today’s press reports uncover yet another investigation detailing the horrific practice of extraordinary rendition, which is just a fancy name for government-sanctioned kidnapping and torture.  Torture is wrong and it cannot be excused by the company someone keeps or the country he is from.”

“The latest victim of this secret prison program is Laid Saidi, over the course of 16 months was taken from Tanzania, to Malawi, to Afghanistan, and Tunisia before finally being dropped of at a bus stop in Algeria.  Mr. Saidi was never told why he was being held and interrogated, and was never charged.”

“When the United States kidnaps innocent people around the world, tortures detainees in secret prisons, and then constructs cynical legal arguments to cover it all up, it is the United States who loses.  We endanger our own troops when they are taken captive by our enemies, we lose our international standing, and we lose our moral authority.”

Rep. Ed Markey, a senior member of the House, has introduced H.R. 952, a bill to end the abhorrent practice of extraordinary rendition end immediately.

For further information, visit http://markey.house.gov.

A link to this morning's New York Time's article can be found here