[Vision2020] Arar v. Ashcroft: Center For Constitutional Rights

[Ted Moffett]

http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/arar-v.-ashcroft

 Arar v. Ashcroft et al Synopsis

*Arar v. Ashcroft *is a federal lawsuit challenging the rendition of a
Canadian citizen to Syria, by the U.S. government, where he was tortured,
forced to falsely confess, and released after one year without ever being
charged.
Status

On December 9, 2008, oral argument will be heard by the Second Circuit Court
of Appeals en banc.
Description

*Arar v. Ashcroft *is a lawsuit brought against the former Attorney General
John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and then Secretary of Homeland
Security Tom Ridge, as well as numerous U.S. immigration officials. It
charges the plaintiffs with violating Mr. Arar's constitutional right to due
process, his right to choose a country of removal other than one in which he
would be tortured, as guaranteed under the Torture Victims Protection Act,
and his rights under international law.

The suit charges that Mr. Arar's Fifth amendment due process rights were
violated when he was confined without access to an attorney or the court
system, both domestically before being rendered, and while detained by the
Syrian government, whose actions were complicit with the U.S. Additionally,
the Attorney General and INS officials who carried out his deportation also
likely violated his right to due process by recklessly subjecting him to
torture at the hands of a foreign government that they had every reason to
believe would carry out abusive interrogation. Further, Mr. Arar filed a
claim under the Torture Victims Protection Act, adopted by the U.S. Congress
in 1992, which allows a victim of torture by an individual of a foreign
government to bring suit against that actor in U.S. Court. Mr. Arar's claim
under the Act against Ashcroft and the INS directors is based upon their
complicity in bringing about the torture he suffered. The case was filed in
the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The plaintiff, Maher Arar, a Syrian-born, Canadian citizen was detained
during a layover at J.F.K. Airport in September 2002 on his way home to his
family in Canada. He was held in solitary confinement for nearly two weeks,
interrogated, and denied meaningful access to a lawyer. The Bush
administration labeled him a member of Al Qaeda, and rendered him, not to
Canada, his home and country of citizenship, but to Syrian intelligence
authorities renowned for torture. The plaintiff seeks a jury trial,
compensatory and punitive damages, and a declaration that the actions of
Defendants, their agents, and their employees, are illegal and violate Mr.
Arar's constitutional, civil, and international human rights.

Maher Arar was rendered to Syria where he was interrogated and tortured
without charge, and forced to falsely confess attending a training camp in
Afghanistan. After nearly a year of confinement, Syrian authorities released
Mr. Arar, publicly stating that they had found no connection to any criminal
or terrorist organization or activity. Upon his return to Canada, Mr. Arar
was never charged with any crime; nor has he been charged with any crime by
the United States. As a signatory of the International Convention against
Torture, the U.S. has an obligation to avoid sending detainees to a nation
that regularly practices torture against prisoners.

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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