CE Week #10: “An extraordinary injustice” Nov. 6th
Amy Goodman
The Spokesman-Review
“Extraordinary rendition” is White House-speak for kidnapping. Just ask Maher Arar. He’s a Canadian citizen who was “rendered” by the U.S. to Syria, where he was tortured for almost a year. Just this week, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in New York City, dismissed Arar’s case against the government officials (including FBI Director Robert Mueller, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former Attorney General John Ashcroft) who allegedly conspired to have him kidnapped and tortured.
Arar is safe now, recovering in Canada with his family. But the decision sends a signal to the Obama administration that there will be no judicial intervention to halt the cruel excesses of the Bush-era “Global War on Terror,” including extraordinary rendition, torture and the use of the “state secrets privilege” to hide these crimes.
Arar’s life-altering odyssey is one of the best-known and best-investigated of those victimized by U.S. extraordinary rendition. After vacationing with his family in Tunisia, Arar attempted to fly home to Canada. On Sept. 26, 2002, while changing planes at JFK Airport, Arar was pulled aside for questioning. He was fingerprinted and searched by the FBI and the New York Police Department. He asked for a lawyer and was told he had no rights.
He was then taken to another location and subjected to two days of aggressive interrogations, with no access to phone, food or a lawyer. He was asked about his membership with various terrorist groups, about Osama bin Laden, Iraq, Palestine and more. Shackled, he was moved to a maximum-security federal detention center in Brooklyn, strip-searched and threatened with deportation to Syria.
Arar was born in Syria and told his captors that if he returned there, he would be tortured. As Arar’s lawyers would later argue, however, that is exactly what they hoped would happen. Arar was eventually allowed a call – he got through to his mother-in-law, who got him a lawyer – and a visit from a Canadian Consulate official.
For nearly two weeks, the U.S. authorities held the Syria threat over his head. Still, he denied any involvement with terrorism. So in the middle of the night, over a weekend, without normal immigration proceedings – without anyone telling his lawyer or the Canadian Consulate – he was dragged in chains to a private jet contracted by the CIA and flown to Jordan, where he was handed over to the Syrians.
For 10 months and 10 days, Maher was held in a dark, damp, cold cell, measuring 6 feet by 3 feet by 7 feet high, the size of a grave. He was beaten repeatedly with a thick electrical cable all over his body, punched, made to listen to the torture of others, denied food and threatened with electrical shock and an array of more horrors. To stop the torture, he falsely confessed to attending terrorist training in Afghanistan. Then, after nearly a year, he was abruptly released to Canada, 40 pounds lighter and emotionally destroyed.
The Canadian government, under conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, investigated, found its own culpability in relaying unreliable information to the FBI and settled with Arar, giving him an apology and $10 million. The U.S. government, on the other hand, has offered no apology and has kept Arar on a terrorist watch list. He is not allowed to enter the U.S. Two years ago, he had to testify before Congress via video conference.
He said: “These past few years have been a nightmare for me. Since my return to Canada, my physical pain has slowly healed, but the cognitive and psychological scars from my ordeal remain with me on a daily basis. I still have nightmares and recurring flashbacks. I am not the same person that I was. I also hope to convey how fragile our human rights have become and how easily they can be taken from us by the same governments that have sworn to protect them.”
Given the excesses of the Bush administration and Barack Obama’s promise of change, it has surprised many that these policies are continuing and that Congress and the courts have not closed this chapter of U.S. history. President Obama has never once condemned extraordinary rendition.
Arar’s lawyer, Maria LaHood, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, calls the court decision against Arar “an outrage.” In his dissent, Judge Guido Calabresi wrote, “I believe that when the history of this distinguished court is written, today’s majority decision will be viewed with dismay.” Given the torture that Arar suffered, his own response was remarkably measured: “If anything, this decision is a loss to all Americans and to the rule of law.”
Amy Goodman hosts a daily international TV and radio news hour called “Democracy Now!” that airs on more than 800 stations in North America. Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
What I Learned:
I learned about the practice of extraordinary rendition and what it entails. And while I have heard of general racial profiling in airport securities, I had actually never heard of the specific case of Maher Arar. I learned that despite Mr. Arar’s Canadian citizenship, he was still seized by the United States and given to Syria for torture.
What I Think:
I would argue that torture is sometimes necessary to national security. But it justification absolutely must be present for accusation of terrorism or other immediate threat. If there was factual evidence that Arar was a threat to our country, than I can see reason of such measures. But if race was simply the only reason he was taken against his will and tortured—we should all be outraged and terrified out of our minds.
What I Would Like to Know:
Did the US have any justification—outside race—to interrogate Arar as a terrorist? If so, what was their evidence?
Connection:
Today in Mr. Kautzman’s 4th period AP GoPo, we discussed “cruel and unusual punishment” in terms of minors serving life sentences in prison. I believe that torture without legitimate evidence is most certainly cruel and unusual punishment—and know most others would agree with me. But if there is a violation of the Constitution, then could Mr. Arar counter-sue the US government?
A) Once again, another article that decided to smack me in the face with a rather large stick labeled “stuff you didn’t know”. This knowledge stick, as I like to refer to it as, is getting bigger and bigger and seems to be beating me over the head more often. This is the kind of thing I expected I would know, that our own government, in a frantic attempt to stifle the panic among our own citizens would cause such a horrible breach on this man’s life and human rights.
B) My own ignorance is this subject is unsettling to me. I find it exceptionally hard to believe that an event such as this did not reach me somehow. I realize I was much younger and much less aware of current events when this man’s rights as a human being were desecrated, but still I feel that in my new involvement I would have come across this despicable act by our own country. The fact that we still have no issued so much as an apology and still have him on a terrorist watch list is sickening, this man has suffered enough and our government is to stubborn to admit they were wrong and accept the consequences that they will continue to ignore his rights.
C) I would like to know how many of these “Extraordinary Renditions“ have happened and if our government has offered an apology to any of the people kidnapped if they were found to be innocent.
D) I actually answered my own question, since 2001 about 3,000 people have been captured and transported around the world as “Extraordinary Renditions”.
What I learned is that Maher Arar is yet another victim of the injustices perpetuated by the War on Terror. I didn’t know about this man’s specific case, and it just makes me further disappointed in my government. We didn’t even issue an apology. At least Canada had the respect and responsibility to award him $10 million.
What I know is that the American justice system, which I think is mostly fair, has repeatedly failed to act fairly regarding the capture, confinement, and torture of those they claim to be terrorists. There are plenty of real terrorists out there, and they are dangerous people. But that doesn’t give us the right to go locking up and torturing anyone of Middle Eastern descent who takes a trip to Tunisia. Knowing that my government didn’t give a man they wrongfully held and tortured for nearly a year any compensation makes me ashamed. The treatment he received, without any due process of law or even hard evidence, is barbaric and it’s embarrassing that it even happened in a nation as progressive as ours. Even more embarrassing is the fact that it has happened before. Murat Kurnaz, a legal German resident of Turkish descent, was held and tortured for 4 years at Guantanamo without charge. Khaled El-Masri, another German citizen, was detained by the CIA and then tortured and interrogated until they realized he was innocent and they had mistaken him for a terrorist because of a similarity in the spelling of their names. It is a horrible injustice that needs to be righted.
What I want to know is why Guantanamo Bay hasn’t been closed down yet. It is an obvious affront to human rights and justice everywhere, and a rust spot on the shining armor of the knight we try to pass ourselves off as around the world.
Extension/Connection: I remembered Obama saying he would shut down Guantanamo, but I haven’t heard anything about it since the announcement so I checked on the progress. I found out that the only legislation that he tried to pass was rejected with a 90-6 vote by the Senate, which is confusing.
In response to Ype Kingma: Wow I’m with Ype on this one, how did I not hear about this? This is true insanity and it just goes to show that torture is NOT OKAY. I don’t understand how someone who claims to be pro-life can allow this to happen. As most of you know, I am fairly conservative, pro-life, and support (to some extent) the aspects of war. Yet this insane breaching of God given rights is undeniable and unpardonable. And Ype, as far as I could find no apology was offered to his family, as he was a “national”. No connection was found between him and any terrorist organization yet he didn’t even recieve an “I’m sorry for beating you senseless” card? This breach on his innate human rights deserves swift legal ramifications, as it undeniably immoral and wrong. As near as I can see, he was treated this way simply because of his descent, which is akin to beating someone for being Muslim, gay, black, hispanic, asian, religious, or any other minority. I can’t figure out under what circumsatnces this could possibly be okay.