Canada Apologizes to Torture Victim, Wants U.S. To Do Same
The story of Maher Arar represents, to many, the darkest side of the War on Terror. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was arrested in JFK airport in 2002 and extradited to Syria in possible violation of U.S. law and international conventions against torture.
Alerted by Canadian officials that Mr. Arar had possible terrorist ties, the United States interrogated the telecommunications engineer and then deported him to Syria-a country from which he had fled, and a country he repeatedly begged not to be sent to. Arar's case has become the most infamous example of a rendition policy in which the United States sends persons to other countries to be interrogated by officials who are not bound by our laws.
After coercing Arar into making several demonstrably false confessions, the Syrians eventually released him. Once back with his family in Canada, the public inquest began. The conclusions were sobering.
Canadian officials not only found that Arar had been severely tortured, but cleared him of all terrorist connections. When Canadian officials had initially reported suspicions to U.S. officials, they had done so in error.
Now Canada wants the United States to own up to its part in the debacle, but so far they've been disappointed.
The U.S. District Court of appeals dismissed a lawsuit on national security grounds. The United States refuses to remove Mr. Arar from its no-fly lists, because of his "personal associations and travel history."
Arar's lawyer says, in light of the investigation into the life of Mr. Arar, who is married to a well-respected Canadian doctor, "It sounds to me like a pretty pathetic justification."
Attorney General Gonzales refused to explain to the U.S. Judiciary Committee why Mr. Arar was deported in this fashion and why the government continues to deny responsibility for what happened as a result. The refusal seemed to frustrate committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) who said, ""The Canadian government has now taken several steps to accept responsibility for its role in sending Mr. Arar to Syria. The question remains why, even if there were reasons to consider him suspicious, the U.S. government shipped him to Syria, where he was tortured, instead of to Canada for investigation or prosecution."
Some congressmen have said that the United States should apologize for its error, but the administration seems unlikely to do that, and its position seems to be causing a serious strain in relations between the U.S. and her neighbors to the north.
Prime Minister Harper insists, "We think the evidence is absolutely clear and that the United States should in good faith remove Mr. Arar from the list. We don't intend to either change or drop our position. . . We will not drop the matter."
Published by Stephanie Dray
Stephanie Dray is an author of historical fiction. Her debut novel, LILY OF THE NILE, will hit bookstore shelves in January 2011. She's a storyteller, a game designer, and a cat trainer. In a previous life,... View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentThe Theory of Torture - In the "Third Institute," Coke writes that "there is no law to warrant tortures in this land, nor can they be justified by any prescription"
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Jardin inferred that the power to torture was regarded as part of the royal prerogative ...inflicting torture at pleasure at the mere instance of the Crown, has always appeared to me to be a very remarkable instance of the opposition of a prerogative to law-of the existence in former times of a power above the law, controlling and subverting the law, and thus rendering it practical application altogether inconsistent with its theoretical excellence.
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http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/294075/torture_and_the_law_of_proof_.html?page=2
You know, this article really sparked my interest and I started doing research. One thing I could not find, though: On whose authority was Arar sent to Syria? As a Canadian citizen since 1991,he should have been sent to Canada. Did Canada drop the ball, or the U.S.? Anyone know the answer? I couldn't find it on CBC, Arar's website, Reuters, or UPI. I need this answer before I form an opinion.
Oooo, good point D.
Good read. Very nicely done. It is unfortunate for the Arab Muslims that the condition of acceptance so long practiced by the Muslim world in which the criminally insane among them were allowed to expand, propagate and multiply as they had. I am sure that it will be many years before the mess created by them is cleansed. The US owes him nothing. He ran with and was associated with suspect people. Very unfortunate. We waited too long to take their war against us seriously.
While it is very good that Canada has offered an apology, the United States owes him far more than that. It is a testament to the honor of the Canadian government that they have done so and that they are offering settlement. Likewise, it is a testament to the lack of honor of the current American government that they are not. And according to the Administration, we cannot trust Syria enough to even talk to them about Iraq. Yet we can trust them to question a suspect?
P.S.--very well written; thank you.
I think there are deeper reasons for the U.S. not admitting any fault: for instance, the federal lawsuit Mr. Arar has filed against the U.S. that is currently under appeal. (N.Y. Times, Jan. 22)
Eh? I think if we had just arrested him and sent him to Canada, you would be right Oliver. But we sent him back to Syria where he was tortured. I don't see why an "I'm sorry" is so far fetched in this case. If this had happened to you, would you just write it off as doing your share to prevent terrorism in the U.S.? Somehow I don't think that would be the case.
We need to just empty all the jails, let everyone free from Gitmo, and stop taking prisoners completely because we simply cannot risk the possibility of wrongfully accusing someone. So what? if we accidentally let some *real* terrorists, murderers, rapists run free, who cares! At least we wont run the risk of "wrongfully imprisoning" one innocent person; which, of course, is far worse than one or two innocent people being raped or blown up by the one we let run free. If we "apologize" and reward the "innocent" in this case, we should apologize and reward everyone who was ever a victim of violent crime or terror from someone guilty let out of jail...
Go Canucks! Well done Canada. Keep pressing the matter. I hope I see this in the news for a LONG time. Well written article Ms. Dray.