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According to the New York Times and the Boston Globe, the CIA pays Richmor $5,365 an hour to take Gulfstream IV N85VM, based in Schenectady, and for which it is the charter agent, on frequent trips to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Chicago Tribune reports the same jet was spotted in Cairo, Egypt, on February 18, 2003, just after an Islamic cleric disappeared in Milan. Italian officials are investigating the disappearance as a kidnapping.
Various news reports in the mass media have identified air charter companies as working with the federal government in a process known as "extraordinary rendition." The term refers to forcible, extra-judicial repatriation of aliens to their country of origin, even if the country may detain those people and may have a human rights record that does not meet international standards.
In one national news story, a Canadian citizen passing through New York City was detained and taken to Syria, where he was interrogated and held incommunicado for many months. The government used a private jet to transport that man, but that aircraft was apparently not connected to Richmor.
Attempts to reach a spokesman Richmor for comment were unsuccessful.
Hudson Alderman Colum Riley, among others, brought the company's involvement with the CIA to the attention of The Independent, saying, "The county is giving taxpayer dollars to a company that hires out jets for the extradition of civilians to countries where torture is legal. Extraordinary rendition is against the Human Rights Accord, the Geneva Convention-every single human rights law on the books."
Gerald Simons (R-Ancram), chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, and Donald Kline (R-Livingston), deputy chairman, were taken aback to hear Richmor Aviation's involvement in the extraordinary rendition program.
"That's news to me," said Mr. Kline.
Mr. Simons agreed. "I knew they leased out the planes. I don't think I have any problem with it-I know they lease the planes out to a whole lot of people..."
Mr. Kline said, "It's something that has been cleared with the government, hasn't it?"
"You know, we don't have a lot of bidders clamoring to manage the airport," said Mr. Simons.
Phillip Morse, owner of the Gulfstream IV and a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox, said in the Tribune story he was "stunned" when that newspaper suggested his plane might be used for renditions. He confirmed March 21 in the Boston Globe that his private jet has been chartered to the CIA by Richmor for over three years and that he was aware that between June 2002 and January of this year, Gulfstream IV N227SV, formerly N85VM, made 51 visits to the site of the U.S. naval base, where more than 500 terrorism suspects are held.
In that same period of time, according to FAA records acquired by the Tribune, the plane has flown to Afghanistan, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and the Czech Republic and made 82 visits to Dulles International Airport just outside of Washington, D.C.
Mahlon Richards, a co-owner of Richmor, is quoted in the Globe as saying, "Richmor provides charter customers and supplies pilots, maintenance and provisioning, "like with any other managed aircraft." According to Mr. Richards, "I don't ask my customers why they go anywhere, whether it's West Palm Beach or the moon."
Richmor, founded in 1967, reported annual sales of $43 million in 2002, the last time their entry in the Business & Company Resource Center was updated. Its website, www.richmor.com, says it has 30 turbine aircraft "suitable for domestic and international travel" at 10 "crew bases" in the U.S.
The New York Times reported last month that in the days after September 11, 2001, President Bush authorized the CIA to transfer suspects to third countries without obtaining separate presidential approval in each instance.
Reacting to media disclosures in publication such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune and The New Yorker of renditions in which the suspects later were found to have no terrorist connections, the House of Representatives recently voted 420-2 to prohibit the use of federal money for sending detainees to countries that practice torture.
"How can we put a trade embargo on Vietnam for 23 years and not trade with China because of torture policies and then give taxpayers' hard-earned money to businesses that deal directly with torture," says Mr. Riley. "At some point, people and businesses should be accountable."
A spokeswoman for the CIA said late Thursday that she was unable to comment about whether the agency works with Richmor Aviation.
