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

[lfalen]

This one may have some merit. He probably should have been returned to Canada.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: Ted Moffett starbliss at gmail.com
Date: Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:26:32 -0800
To: vision 2020 vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Arar v. Ashcroft: Center For Constitutional Rights

> 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.
> 
> ------------------------------------------
> 
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
> 
>