"Extraordinary rendition" is the illegal practice of abducting foreign nationals for detention and interrogation in secret overseas prisons. Recent accounts of rendition have demonstrated a chilling pattern - black-clad masked men grab foreign nationals, beat and strip them down before loading them onto planes for destinations unknown to their families or governments. These victims are then taken to secret "black site" prisons around the world. Others are delivered to nations like Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Morocco that are notorious for torturing prisoners. Once there, detainees experience unspeakable horrors--often kept in squalid conditions, they face the brutal practice of waterboarding, electrocutions, beatings, extreme isolation, and psychological torture.

The U.S. once led the fight against torture and not only signed, but helped craft many of the international treaties and laws that outlaw torture. It spoke out against inhumane treatment of detainees and prisoners and offered refuge to victims of atrocities perpetrated by other governments. Now, upending two centuries of humane detention and interrogations practices, the current administration is facilitating of torture. In the name of national security, our government is sponsoring torture programs that transcend the bounds of law and threaten our most treasured values. There has never been a more urgent need to preserve fundamental Constitutional protections and our system of checks and balances. To learn more, please click on the links below.

CASES ACLU has brought two lawsuits against the U.S. government and the airline companies that facilitate extraordinary rendition

PROFILES Learn more about the real live victims of Rendition

INTERVIEW ACLU attorney Ben Wizner talks with 'Rendition' director Gavin Hood

TAKE ACTION Act today to end torture and rendition