The Center for Public Integrity

The Project

Changes in United States foreign policy and military assistance programs that seemed so urgent after the September 11 attacks have paid off in the capture of dangerous terrorist suspects and the disruption of possible attacks. But five years on, the influence of foreign lobbying on the U.S. government, as well as a shortsighted emphasis on counterterrorism objectives over broader human rights concerns, have generated staggering costs to the U.S. and its allies in money spent and political capital burned. 

For more than a year, the Center for Public Integrity, through its International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), conducted an investigation to assess the impact of foreign lobbying and terrorism on post-9/11 U.S. military training and assistance policies.

Changes in United States foreign policy and military assistance programs that seemed so urgent after the September 11, 2001, attacks have paid off in the capture of dangerous terrorist suspects and the disruption of possible attacks. But five years on, the influence of foreign lobbying on the U.S. government, as well as a shortsighted emphasis on counterterrorism objectives over broader human rights concerns, have generated staggering costs to the U.S. and its allies in money spent and political capital burned.

For more than a year, the Center for Public Integrity, through its International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), conducted an investigation to assess the impact of foreign lobbying and terrorism on post-9/11 U.S. military training and assistance policies. Among the findings:

PORTSMOUTH, England — A plane lands in darkness and is directed to a far corner of an airfield, well out of public view. A group of men described as "masked ninjas" — wearing black overalls and hoods with slits for their eyes, nose and mouth — descend the aircraft steps and make their way to a nearby airport building. Inside a small room the detainee is waiting under armed guard, perhaps already blindfolded. He is immediately hooded as a process known as a "twenty-minute takeout" begins. Soon he is aboard the plane, on his way to another country to be harshly interrogated and possibly tortured.

That is what happened to two Egyptian asylum seekers in Sweden on December 18, 2001, and to numerous other terrorist suspects since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Events like this rarely happened before 9/11, but many sources claim that the CIA began frequent use of the practice almost immediately afterward. Now its pattern is familiar and so is its odd name: "extraordinary rendition."

The United States has never acknowledged such renditions, but the CIA's activities have been extensively studied and documented by European and other governments, as well as organizations that monitor human rights violations. One such inquiry, by Sweden's parliamentary ombudsman, was set in motion when the Egyptian asylum seekers were swept away — and Sweden landed in hot water with the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia's national intelligence agency used a former Indonesian president's charitable foundation to hire a Washington lobbying firm in 2005 to press the U.S. government for a full resumption of controversial military training programs to the country, the Center for Public Integrity's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has learned.

The documents were uncovered as part of a year-long ICIJ investigation into changes in America's post-Sept. 11 foreign military aid and assistance programs and the impact of those changes on human rights. The investigation, focusing on 10 key countries, including Indonesia, is scheduled for release in early 2007.The connection between the intelligence agency, Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN), and the charity group, the Gus Dur Foundation, is documented in papers filed by the lobbying firm, Richard L. Collins & Co., in compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

After years of lobbying by both the Bush administration and the Indonesian government, Congress and the State Department in late 2005 fully reinstated military cooperation and aid to Indonesia, even though BIN has a long history of involvement in human rights abuses and was recently linked to the assassination of a prominent Indonesian human rights activist.

The Gus Dur Foundation was established by former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, who goes by the nickname "Gus Dur" and is known for his moderate politics and support for human rights. Gus Dur and another foundation official denied knowing about the contract between their Jakarta-based charity group and the lobbying firm.

In May 2005, the Gus Dur Foundation retained Collins & Co. for $30,000 a month to lobby Congress to "remove legislative and policy restrictions on security cooperation with Indonesia," according to a copy of a signed contract.