Abstract
Since 2002, detainees in Guantanamo Bay have been subject to egregious human rights abuses, but a lesser-known aspect of the torture they suffer is the use of extraordinary renditions, or the forced kidnapping of a person to another location to avoid a country’s laws regarding interrogation or torture. In Johnston County, North Carolina, the CIA used charter company Aero Contractors Ltd. to aid these renditions by flying planes out of the county airport with the intent to transport (render) detainees from foreign countries to CIA detention centers, such as Guantanamo Bay. Because of methods used on detainees such as beatings and stress positions, these rendition flights were torture in and of themselves and played a key role in the mental breaking of a detainee. Since North Carolina supported this program knowing it was illegal and morally wrong, we must ask ourselves what consequences this acceptance of torture could have on both NC and the United States.

This work will effectively demonstrate the involvement of the state of North Carolina in this program and its refusal to accept accountability for the role it played in the torture of detainees. To support my project, I will use sources such as North Carolina’s state laws and human rights databases as well as human rights reports created by anti-torture groups. My goal is to explore if the refusal of North Carolina and the US to accept responsibility for their roles in facilitating torture has made human rights violations more acceptable in the US. With this research, I will add to the already existing pressure on North Carolina to publicly acknowledge their role in this torture program, as well as provide insight into the lasting impact that it will have on America.