[Vision2020] Innocent Man Sent to Syria and Tortured

Wed Sep 20 22:56:52 PDT 2006

I think we have to think about this for a moment. Obviously, nobody is justifying torture.

  However, I don't think the United States just randomly picked on a guy.  This guy flew into NY City on Sept. 26, 2002. That was just after the  anniversary of  September 11, 2001. The guy fit the profile of the  those that flew the airplanes, and they received a phone call from the  country he just came from saying to stop him because he was a terrorist  and was communicating with Bin Laudin and had a plane ticket to visit a  middle eastern country linked to terrorists. He also  was not a  native born Westerner but Middle Easterner.  

 The guy  happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time matching the  description of someone the authorities were looking for. He had a  really bad stroke of luck.  

 If you happened to be  going for a midnight walk to get some fresh air and a man matching your  description, height, weight, hair and eye color, and wearing the same  thing as you, just raped a woman ten blocks away , and a witness  fingered you as "That's the guy!" to a police officer, could you blame  the officers for taking you in? 

  What happened after that was upsetting. But let us be realistic about this and how the world works. 

  Best,

  _DJA

Dick Sherwin <rvrcowboy at clearwire.net> wrote:              As  I understand this story, the U.S. depended on Canadian officials as to  the status of this "Innocent Man" and he was deported to Syria based on  information from Canada.  Is this true, or am I wrong?  

  At  any rate, mistakes do happen and perhaps the U.S. officials should have  checked out the validity of the claims by the Canadian Immigration  people more closely.  I am sure that Ted and Joe would have made  sure, beyond the word of officials of this guy's own government, that  he should not have been deported to Syria.  

  Point  being, we have all heard the story now boys.  You can stop trying  to make it appear the United States purposefully exiled an innocent man  to a country where our government knew he would be beaten and  mistreated.  I know it is difficult for you both to just let such  an opportunity drop but, believe me, it is no longer current  news.  Get over it.

  Dick S
      ----- Original Message ----- 
    From:     Ted Moffett     
    To: Joe Campbell 
    Cc: Vision 2020 
    Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 10:25     AM
    Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Innocent Man     Sent to Syria and Tortured

    Joe et. al.

    Of course not.

    What  do you call those who seize an innocent man, kidnap him to a  foreign nation against his will beyond help, deny him access  to review of his imprisonment by any court  or judge or any resemblance to the fundamental legal  protections of habeas corpus, beat him, interrogate him, and take a  year of his life away? 

    Defenders of freedom!  

    http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm
        In  Brown v. Vasquez, 952 F.2d 1164, 1166 (9th Cir. 1991), cert. denied,  112 S.Ct. 1778 (1992), the court observed that the Supreme Court has  "recognized the fact that`[t]he writ of habeas corpus is the  fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against  arbitrary and lawless state action.' Harris v. Nelson, 394 U.S. 286,  290-91 (1969). " Therefore, the writ must be "administered with the  initiative and flexibility essential to insure that miscarriages of  justice within its reach are surfaced and corrected." Harris, 394 U.S.  at 291. 

    Ted Moffett

    On 9/19/06, Joe     Campbell <joekc at adelphia.net> wrote:     Careful,       Ted! You don't want anyone to think that you're supporting terrorists with       this post, do you?

Best, Joe

---- Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com>       wrote:

=============
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/innocent-man-sent-to-syria-and-tortured/20060918232609990016?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Innocent       Man Sent to Syria and Tortured, Probe Finds
Canadian Report Faults       Mounties, U.S. for Deportation
By ROB GILLIES, AP

TORONTO       (Sept. 19) - The United States "very likely" sent a Canadian
software       engineer to Syria, where he was tortured, based on the false
accusation       by Canadian authorities that he was suspected of links to 
al-Qaida,       according to a new government report.

Syrian-born Maher Arar was       exonerated of all suspicion of terrorist activity
by the 2 1/2-year       commission of inquiry into his case, which urged the
Canadian government       to offer him financial compensation. Arar is perhaps the 
world's       best-known case of extraordinary rendition -- the U.S. transfer       of
foreign terror suspects to third countries without court       approval.

"I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence       to indicate that 
Mr. Arar has committed any offense or that his       activities constitute a
threat to the security of Canada," Justice Dennis       O'Connor said Monday in a
three-volume report on the findings of the       inquiry, part of which was made 
public.

Arar was traveling on a       Canadian passport when he was detained at New York's
Kennedy Airport on       Sept. 26, 2002, on his way home from vacation in Tunisia.

Arar said       U.S. authorities sent him to Syria for interrogation as a 
suspected       member of al-Qaida, a link he denied.

He spent nearly a year in       prison in Syria and made detailed allegations
after his release in 2003       about extensive interrogation, beatings and
whippings with electrical       cables. 

O'Connor criticized the U.S. and recommended that Ottawa       file formal
protests with both Washington and the Syrian government over       Arar's
treatment.

"The American authorities who handled Mr. Arar's       case treated Mr. Arar in a 
most regrettable fashion," O'Connor wrote.       "They removed him to Syria
against his wishes and in the face of his       statements that he would be
tortured if sent there. Moreover, they dealt       with Canadian officials 
involved with Mr. Arar's case in a less than       forthcoming manner."

The U.S. is already under intense criticism from       human rights groups over
the practice of sending suspects to countries       where they could be tortured. 

U.S. and Syrian officials refused to       cooperate with the Canadian inquiry.

The commission found the Royal       Canadian Mounted Police shared information
about Arar with American       anti-terrorist agencies both before and after he 
was       detained.

The RCMP asked the U.S. to put Arar on a watch list as an       "Islamic extremist
individual" suspected of links to the al-Qaida       terrorist movement, the
report said.

The request was issued after       Arar met with another man who was under 
surveillance, a meeting Arar has       said was about how to find inexpensive
computer equipment.

"The       RCMP had no basis for this description, which had the potential to
create       serious consequences for Mr. Arar in light of American attitudes and       
practices," the report said.

The RCMP described Arar as the       "target" of a domestic anti-terrorist
investigation in Canada when in       fact he was a peripheral figure who had come
under suspicion only because       he had been seen in the company of the man who 
was under surveillance,       the report found.

O'Connor said that much of the material shared with       U.S. authorities had not
been double-checked to ensure its accuracy and       reliability -- a violation of
the RCMP's usual rules for divulging       information to foreign agencies. 

O'Connor concluded that the       inaccurate information passed by Canadian police
to U.S. authorities       "very likely" led to their decision to send Arar to
Syria.

"It's       quite clear that the RCMP sent inaccurate information to U.S.
officials,"       Arar said at a news conference in Ottawa. "I would have not have
even       been sent to Syria had this information not been given to them."

"I       have waited a long time to have my name cleared. I was tortured and lost       
a year of my life. I will never be the same," Arar said. "The United       States
must take responsibility for what it did to me and must stop       destroying more
innocent lives with its unlawful actions."

The       commission concluded there was no evidence Canadian       officials
participated in or agreed to the decision to send Arar to       Syria. But
O'Connor recommended that in the future, information should       never be
provided to a foreign country where there is a credible risk       that it will 
cause or contribute to the use of torture.

Most of       the judge's 23 policy recommendations centered on the RCMP and
emphasized       the need to improve the force's internal policies for national
security       investigations and the sharing of information with other countries.       

Arar's case has been regularly featured on the front pages of       Canadian
newspapers and public outcry led to the government calling an       inquiry.
Canada's federal government established the inquiry in 2004 to       determine the 
role Canadian officials played.

O'Connor also found       "troubling questions" about the role played by Canadian
officials in the       cases of three other Canadians of Arab descent -- Ahmad El
Maati,       Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin. All claim they were tortured 
in       Syria after traveling there on personal business, and all suspect       that
the RCMP, Canadian intelligence or both collaborated with their       captors.

O'Connor said he could not get to the bottom of those cases       because of the 
limited nature of his mandate. But he urged the       government to appoint an
independent investigator -- something short of a       full-fledged public inquiry
-- to look into those cases.

O'Connor       sifted through thousands of pages of documents and sat through 
testimony       from more than 40 witnesses. He delivered two versions of his
report to       the government: one classified, the other public. But portions of
even       the public edition of the long-awaited document were withheld due to       
security concerns.

9/19/2006       06:23:35

-----------

Vision2020 Post: Ted     Moffett

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