During testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee this morning, Sec. Rice responded to questions about one of most well-known victims of extraordinary rendition, Maher Arar, and stated that the State Department does “absolutely not wish to transfer anyone to any place in which they might be tortured.”

“Secretary Rice doesn’t need to wish that detainees are not transferred to torturers – she can make her wish a reality by supporting passage of the Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act,” said Rep. Markey “I am pleased to hear from the secretary that the administration tries to ensure detainees won’t be tortured, but trying and wishing aren’t enough. We need to explicitly prohibit anyone from being tortured while in the custody of the United States, and end the policy of extraordinary rendition where this government outsources torture to others.

“I am disappointed that Secretary Rice sidestepped another opportunity to come clean to the Congress about the Bush administration’s policy of extraordinary rendition. She failed today to explicitly apologize for the harm done to Maher Arar when the United States sent him to Syria to be tortured, and her silence is deafening.”

Rep. Markey’s bill, H.R. 1352, the Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act, would explicitly bar the transfer of individuals in custody or control of the U.S. government or contractors to any country known for the use of torture or other cruel interrogation practices, regardless of an individual’s citizenship or location of seizure.

The practice has received more attention recently with the release of a major motion picture about extraordinary rendition, called “Rendition,” featuring several well-known actors.