engaging in torture while the CIA secretly transfers detainees to the very same countries for interrogation?130 Case of Ashraf al-Jailani The case of Ashraf al-Jailani is emblematic of the impact that some of these positive legislative initiatives could have in the future. While most of the proposed legislation is keyed toward the phenomenon of renditions that occur outside U.S. territory, the bills also address the use of diplomatic assurances in ordinary immigration proceedings in the U.S. An immigration judge in the al-Jailani case ruled that returning a person to a risk of torture not only violates the U.S.’s Convention against Torture obligations, but could have far-reaching policy implications for creating the perception that the U.S. condones the practice of torture for countries fighting against terrorism. Disturbingly, the judge also found that securing credible diplomatic assurances against torture could be a condition for al-Jailani’s return to Yemen, despite the country’s well-documented and even admitted use of torture. In December 2004 an immigration judge ruled that al-Jailani, a national of Yemen suspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of terrorist activity, could not be removed to Yemen because his fears of torture and ill-treatment upon return were wellfounded.131 The decision recounted in some detail the voluminous credible evidence of Yemen’s targeting of Islamists or suspected terrorists for especially abusive practices, including mass arrest; incommunicado detention; torture and ill-treatment in detention facilities with no independent oversight of conditions or practices therein; and denial of access by detainees to lawyers and independent courts.132 The judge also noted that Yemen admits that torture is a serious problem, but that Yemeni officials justify such abuses in light of the urgent need to combat terrorism.133 Moreover, the judge took into account the May 2004 conclusions of the Committee against Torture regarding Yemen’s “failure to address in adequate detail the practical 130 Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy on the Convention against Torture Implementation Act, March 17, 2005 [online] http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200503/031705a.html (retrieved March 19, 2005) 131 In the Matter of Ashraf al-Jailani, Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), U.S. Immigration Court, York, Pennsylvania, File #A 73 369 984, December 17, 2004, p. 14, copy on file with Human Rights Watch. 132 The decision references the U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports, and an April 2003 report by the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) detailing human rights violations against those suspected as Islamic militants or associated with terrorist activity. 133 Al-Jailani, p. 11. 45 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOL. 17 NO. 4(D)