San José activists protest CIA rendition flights
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
By: Jon Britton
Boeing subsidiary implicated as torture 'travel agent'
Office workers on their lunch hour were somewhat startled to see a wire cage with two occupants wearing orange
jumpsuits, one hooded, near the entrance of 225 West Santa Clara Street in downtown San José, Calif., on Nov. 17. Other people, most also wearing orange, marched around the cage with signs denouncing U.S. torture policies and demanding a stop to CIA torture flights. They handed leaflets to passersby explaining what this bit of "street theater" was all about.
The West Santa Clara Street address is the 16th floor office location of Jeppesen DataPlan, a section of Jeppesen Sanderson Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing—"the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined," according to its website. Jeppesen touts itself as "Making Every Mission Possible."
On Oct. 23, New Yorker magazine had reported on its website that "Jeppesen’s clients include the C.I.A., and that among the international trips that the company plans for the agency are secret ‘extraordinary rendition’ flights for terrorism suspects." The New Yorker exposé soon circulated widely on the internet. After reading the New Yorker article, activists of the San José anti-war coalition South Bay Mobilization decided something dramatic was needed to bring this scandalous situation to the attention of the broader community.
SBM subsequently called for the Nov. 17 protest at Jeppesen DataPlan. Besides SBMers, activists from Veterans for Peace, the local chapter of Amnesty International, Act Against Torture, the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), Party for Socialism and Liberation and other organizations came out. Participation totaled around 20 at the weekday noontime demonstration called on short notice.
The protest drew good media coverage, both before and after the event. "The fact that these horrors are being carried out in our name, with our tax dollars, is completely unacceptable," Charlotte Casey of SBM told Bay Area CBS affiliate KPIX5. Jeppesen would not comment, according to the station. The CIA also declined to comment.
Participants are discussing possible additional actions around this issue.
Click here for the New Yorker article.
Click here for KPIX-5 coverage.
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