Has Congress Expanded Rendition of U.S. Citizens Abroad?

The Obama administration is continuing to come under intense criticism from civil liberties groups for saying it will sign a controversial defense spending bill that some legal experts say would authorize the military to jail anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world without charge or trial. While much of the media focus has been on the bill’s provisions regarding indefinite detention, Mother Jones magazine has revealed the bill also contains text that could make it easier for the U.S. government to transfer American citizens to foreign regimes and security forces–a process known as rendition.

Democracy Now! spoke today with Mother Jones’ national security reporter, Nick Baumann. He also details the cases of several U.S. citizens who have already been detained abroad by foreign security forces, interrogated, sometimes abused, and asked questions they believe could only have come from U.S. law enforcement. You can watch the interview here (rush transcript not available at time of this posting). Baumann’s article is available here, and includes a section with the detention and transfer provisions of the NDAA.