Ex-CIA official appeals to Pope to stop rendition

In an open letter to the Pope, Sabrina De Sousa said imposition of state secrets on the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation programme, ensure that abuses of power or human rights are never exposed. “State secrets, as I discovered, are also used to hinder proper investigations,” said De Sousa, who is to be extradited from Portugal to Italy to serve a four-year sentence after Portugal’s Constitutional Court rejected her final appeal. 

Observing that the Pope has spoken decisively about the programme, she said, “We need Your Holiness’ voice now more than ever to keep this issue in the forefront for much-needed discourse in the court of public opinion. If we don’t have complete understanding of the impact and utility of such programmes, it’s entirely possible that similar programmes will in the near future be introduced in the name of national security.” 

De Sousa, 60, has a dual citizenship of Portugal and the US. She is being extradited for her alleged role in the February 2003 rendition of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr. De Sousa, who grew up in Mumbai, was among 26 Americans convicted in absentia by Italian courts for their alleged role in the abduction.