View Full Version : U.S. legislators apologize to Maher Arar
(Because you likely won't hear about this in the U.S.)
U.S. legislators apologize to Maher Arar (http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/10/18/arar.html)
Last Updated: Thursday, October 18, 2007
CBC News
Maher Arar received a public apology from U.S. lawmakers on Thursday for being detained by the U.S. and deported to Syria, where he was tortured and interrogated on false terrorism allegations.
The apologies came during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing convened to discuss his deportation.
"Let me personally give you what our government has not: an apology," Democrat Bill Delahunt said as he opened the hearing.
"Let me apologize to you and the Canadian people for our government's role in a mistake."
Republican Dana Rohrabacher also apologized, but said he would fight any efforts by Democrats to end the practice of so-called extraordinary rendition, whereby people suspected of terrorism are grabbed by government agents and taken to another country where local authorities may torture them.
"Yes, we should be ashamed" of what happened in the case, Rohrabacher said
"That is no excuse to end a program which has protected the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of American lives."
Democrat Jerrold Nadler, who apologized to Arar, described his ordeal as "a kidnapping."
He also said that he saw all of the classified information on the case on Wednesday, and that while he couldn't talk specifics, he said "there is nothing there."
"I am not at liberty to reveal all the classified information, but I am at liberty to say … there is nothing there that justifies the campaign of vilification against your name … or justifies denying you entry into this country or characterizing you as a terrorist in any way."
Arar testified via video-link at the hearing since he is barred from entering the U.S., even though a Canadian public inquiry has cleared him of any connection with terrorism.
He thanked legislators for their apology before launching into the now familiar but still harrowing description of his ordeal.
He described the tiny, unlit "grave-like" cell where he was kept away from his family for nearly a year, and the physical and mental torture he suffered.
"I feel it is my obligation and moral duty as a human being to help prevent what happened to me from happening to other people," his statement read.
It was Arar's first appearance before a government body in the U.S.
Arar, a Canadian citizen who was born in Syria, was stopped at a New York airport on his way home from a vacation in September 2002.
U.S. officials accused him of links to al-Qaeda and deported him to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured for months.
Judge Dennis O'Connor, who led the public inquiry into the Arar case, said that misleading information provided by the RCMP "very likely" paved the way for U.S. officials to send Arar to Syria.
In January, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology to Arar while announcing he will receive $12.5 million in compensation.
The package includes $10.5 million for pain and suffering and another $2 million for Arar's legal fees.
hoops
10-19-2007, 04:11 PM
not near enough
peace
hoops
DaveM
10-19-2007, 11:42 PM
One has to wonder just how many others are presently lying in dungeons preserving those theoretical millions of American lives. As well as just how it is that certain politicians can be so specific in their knowledge of terrorist attacks that have not happened? Are we to believe that there is a terrorist under every bed and that we are kept safe only by resorting to mass arrests, detentions, and torture? For what it may be worth I do not believe such things.
Maher Arar has a personal apology coming from this American, and I rather wish I could deliver it in person. Except that, since I don't have a passport, I'm not allowed to leave the country.
Darlene
10-20-2007, 02:14 AM
As a citizen of these United States I hang my head in shame.........
peace, darlene
Updated: Sat. Oct. 20 2007
Canadian Maher Arar remains on a U.S. no-fly list due to allegations from a man convicted of immigration fraud, according to classified American documents seen by The Globe and Mail.
U.S. sources told the newspaper the intelligence documents are key to understanding why Arar remains on a U.S. terrorism watch list despite being cleared of any wrongdoing by a public inquiry and receiving $10 million in compensation from the Canadian government.
The classified documents, which were only accessible to those with a security clearance, state Arar was seen in Afghanistan in the early 1990s by Lebanese-born U.S. resident Mohamed Kamal Elzahabi, a self-confessed sniper instructor who claims he once led militant training camps in Afghanistan.
Arar maintains he never went to Afghanistan. He did confess to being in the war-torn country, but under torture by Syrian authorities.
Elzahabi has been languishing in a Minnesota jail for the past three years. He was convicted last year of immigration fraud. He still faces outstanding charges of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Until now, Elzahabi's statements have remained sealed and not been tested in court.
The information comes from FBI interviews conducted nearly two years after Arar was arrested by U.S. authorities. Portions of the statement seen by the newspaper say Elzahabi did not train Arar in Afghanistan and state he didn't know what kind of training Arar may have participated in.
from: Arar accuser has spotty background: report (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071020/arar_docs_071020/20071020?hub=TopStories)
DaveM
10-20-2007, 03:19 PM
A bit amusing how available "classified U.S. documents" seem to be. Especially when, in many cases involved "detainees", the defendants and their attorneys (if any) are generally not allowed to see them.
Very strange system we have growing here.
What's even more disturbing to me Dave, is that they did this bolstered by false info from our own RCMP!
:mad:
The U.S. decision to send Maher Arar to Syria was "very likely" based on inaccurate and misleading information from the RCMP, according to an inquiry report released Monday, but there is no evidence Canadian officials played a direct role in his detention or deportation.
But Justice Dennis O'Connor, who led the public inquiry into the case, concluded that Canadian officials did leak information to damage Arar's reputation.
O'Connor also concluded that Arar was an innocent victim and was not involved in al-Qaeda activities in any way, as U.S. officials had alleged.
"I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offence or that his activities constituted a threat to the security of Canada," wrote the judge.
Arar, who then lived in Ottawa, was travelling back to Canada from a family vacation in Tunisia in September 2002 when he was pulled off a plane in New York. Within days, he was sent to Syria, where he says government officials detained him, systematically tortured him and kept him in jail for a year.
False RCMP info 'very likely' led to Arar deportation: report (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/09/18/maher-arar.html)
Monday, September 18, 2006
DaveM
10-20-2007, 06:08 PM
That is creepy--if you can't trust the Mounties, who can you trust?
Never trust a man in uniform.
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k267/deemark/Photo%20Shoebox%20VI/mountienativedebacle.jpg
Rice tells Canada U.S. did not handle Arar case well, pledges to 'do better' (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/071024/national/us_cda_arar)
WASHINGTON (CP) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted Tuesday the case of Canadian Maher Arar wasn't handled well by the United States.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill, Rice was questioned about Arar, who was detained by U.S. authorities during a stopover in New York and sent to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured on wrong intelligence that he was a terror suspect.
A commission of inquiry in Canada has cleared Arar of any links to terrorism, but he is still barred from travelling to the United States.
Rice did not apologize during testimony at the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, but she did say U.S. authorities failed to handle the case as well as they should have.
"We and the Canadians do not have the same understanding of what is possible in the future for Mr. Arar in terms of travel," Rice said.
"But we have told the Canadian government that we did not think this was handled particularly well in terms of our own relationship and we will try to do better in the future."
Asked about Arar's torture and the Canadian inquiry that cleared the Ottawa telecommunications engineer, Rice said: "I am aware of claims he was tortured."
"I am aware of the inquiry and we do not think this case was handled as it should have been. We do absolutely not wish to transfer anyone to any place that they might actually be tortured."
Rice said she could not immediately recall the details when asked whether the U.S. administration relied on Syrian assurances that Arar would not be tortured.
"I will get you a full accounting of this because my memory of some of the details has faded," she said.
Last week, both Republican and Democrat legislators offered apologies to Arar for his ordeal during a hearing at which Arar testified via videoconference from Ottawa.
Arar still has a lawsuit pending against American officials. Arguments are scheduled for Nov. 9 in New York.
DaveM
10-24-2007, 03:35 PM
They're going to "do better". Of course....they never did this sort of thing in the first place. Cue Twilight Zone music....
Canada asks U.S. to remove Arar from no-fly lists (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071025/arar_flylist_071025/20071025?hub=TopStories)
Thu. Oct. 25 2007
OTTAWA (CP) — Canada has asked the Bush administration to remove torture victim Maher Arar from any lists that would prevent him from flying in the United States.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says he has formally written to ask U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to strike Arar's name from the lists.
The move comes a day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly acknowledged American officials bungled the Arar case.
Day says he wrote to Chertoff after reviewing transcripts of Rice's comments.
Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained in New York by U.S. authorities in 2002 and then sent to Syria, where he was tortured as a suspected terrorist.
Despite the admission of wrongdoing in the Arar case and a Canadian inquiry which cleared him of any links to terrorism, Rice suggested Arar would remain on U.S. security watch lists.
DaveM
10-25-2007, 02:52 PM
Dee....perhaps we should work on getting you off the "no fly" list as well. So far as I know, you're not on any "security watch" lists.
Just learned that there are 755,000 people on various "watch lists" maintained by the U.S. Think about it....if only 1% of the people on those lists were terrorists, don't you think they would have....I don't know....done something violent by now?
Yah, that's a ridiculous policy Dave.
"Currently, the US is one of only 15 countries to effectively ban HIV-positive visitors - along with the likes of Iraq, Libya, Russia and Saudi Arabia - according to the latest information from the Swiss HIV information site, aidsnet.ch. Although the US HIV tourist ban has been almost universally criticised - both within and outside the US - the restriction remains after 17 years, and due to the convoluted nature of the history of this discriminatory piece of legislation, requires an act of Congress to remove it."
DaveM
10-25-2007, 09:34 PM
I guess you'll just have to become a terrorist, Dee....at least then, there'd be an off chance of getting the case into court....
hoops
10-26-2007, 09:07 PM
"Currently, the US is one of only 15 countries to effectively ban HIV-positive visitors
Dee,
OMG, this has to... i can't... i don't... what the... maybe i missed something... is this really true? i don't even know what to ask, say think, my mind is truly blown
DaveM
10-26-2007, 11:25 PM
It's true, Hoops. Family values, y'know and all that rubbish. Love thy neighbor, but don't let one of "them" (whichever "them" it might be at the moment) into the country.
Dee, at least you have the comfort of being regarded as a threat to national security here. Someday, that will be a point of honor.
"Currently, the US is one of only 15 countries to effectively ban HIV-positive visitors
Dee,
OMG, this has to... i can't... i don't... what the... maybe i missed something... is this really true? i don't even know what to ask, say think, my mind is truly blown
Oh yes, it's true Hoops. And illogical as it is, it's also the reason I was unable to attend JanisMania last time. I could have paid a large sum of money to be considered for a waiver as a visitor, but of course there was no guarantee that it would be approved or in time for me to go or even at all.
I’ve given up trying to make sense of any of it.
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