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A global system for the rendition, secret detention and torture of terror suspects will be the focus of the next Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Esteem Lecture.<\/p>\n
The lecture will be given by Dr Ruth Blakeley<\/a>, Reader in International Relations at the University, in Grimond Lecture Theatre 1, on Wednesday 4 February at 6pm.<\/p>\n Dr Blakeley\u2019s research focuses on the use of state violence and terrorism, particularly by liberal democratic states. She is behind \u2018The Rendition Project<\/a>\u2019, which has analysed the huge amount of data that exists about rendition, secret detention and torture in the \u2018War on Terror\u2019.<\/p>\n Described by the Guardian <\/em>as \u2018a ground-breaking research project which sheds unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations of recent years\u2019, the Rendition Project has produced the Rendition Flights Database and Interactive Map, enabling users to navigate their own way through the global rendition system.<\/p>\n Dr Blakeley\u2019s lecture will explore the development and operation of the global rendition system that, contrary to popular understanding, has outlived the George Bush administration in the US. She will outline key developments in the system and the implications for US and UK foreign policy, global governance of human rights and for victims of rendition, secret detention and torture.<\/p>\n