Torture claim lists Boeing subsidiary

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing a Boeing subsidiary of helping the CIA to facilitate "the forced disappearance, torture and inhumane treatment" of three men the government suspected of terrorist involvement.

"This is the first time we are accusing a blue-chip American company of profiting from torture," said ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner, speaking at a news conference in New York City.

Since at least 2001, Jeppesen Dataplan of San Jose, Calif., "has provided direct and substantial services to the United States for its so-called 'extraordinary rendition program,' " the suit alleges.

Extraordinary rendition is the secret practice of transferring terrorist suspects, without court approval, to third-party countries that routinely engage in torture and other ill treatment, according to Human Rights Watch. After years of denial, the Bush administration now acknowledges the practice, but it denies sanctioning torture.

The suit was filed on behalf of three men: Binyam Mohammed, a 28-year-old Ethiopian citizen and British resident; Abou Elkassim Britel, a 40-year-old man of Moroccan descent naturalized in Italy; and Ahmed Agiza, a 45-year-old Egyptian citizen. The suit says Jeppesen provided flight- and logistical-support services on more than 70 extraordinary renditions over four years.

"Corporations should expect to get sued where they are making blood money off the suffering of others," said Clive Stafford Smith, a British lawyer who has been representing Mohammed and is serving as co-counsel on the ACLU suit.

Mike Pound, a spokesman for Jeppesen, said the company had not been served with the suit and consequently had no comment on its merits.

Tim Neale, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing, declined to confirm whether Jeppesen worked for the CIA. "The services Jeppesen provides are provided on a confidential basis for all its customers," he said.

In response to a request for comment, CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said, "The CIA does not, as a matter of course, publicly discuss contractual relationships it may or may not have with firms or individuals."

ACLU attorney Steven Watt said his organization had obtained information about Jeppesen's role in the rendition program from a variety of sources, including investigations in Spain, Sweden and Italy, other court cases and media reports, in particular a New Yorker magazine article by Jane Mayer, portions of which were quoted in the lawsuit.

Mayer wrote that a former Jeppesen employee told her he heard a senior company official say at a board meeting: "We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights — you know, the torture flights. Let's face it, some of these flights end up that way."

The suit states that Jeppesen played a critical role by providing flight-planning services.