Canadians Fault U.S. for Its Role in Torture Case

[DoYouEverWonder]

OTTAWA, Sept. 18 — A government commission on Monday exonerated a Canadian computer engineer of any ties to terrorism and issued a scathing report that faulted Canada and the United States for his deportation four years ago to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured.

The report on the engineer, Maher Arar, said American officials had apparently acted on inaccurate information from Canadian investigators and then misled Canadian authorities before flying Mr. Arar in an American government plane to Jordan and then transporting him to Syria.

“I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offense or that his activities constituted a threat to the security of Canada,” Justice Dennis R. O’Connor, head of the commission, said at a news conference.

The report’s findings could reverberate heavily through the leadership of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which handled the initial intelligence on Mr. Arar that led security officials in both Canada and the United States to assume he was a suspected Al Qaeda terrorist.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/world/americas/19canada.html?hp&ex=1158638400&en=5a5807626a7ef39e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Erika]

1. Where does W think he has the right to torture citizens

of other countries who never wronged us? I'm sickened and ashamed by the actions of W and the GOP.

[Telly Savalas]

2. Did I miss the part where the Canadian prime minister

demanded an apology from the Bush Administration?

Isn't that the least a leader of a country can do when one of its citizens is tortured at the hands of a foreign power?

[NightOwwl]

3. This poor man.

It breaks my heart to think about what happened to him.

[tuvor]

4. NYT: Canadian Man Tortured in Syria Wants Explanation From U.S.

OTTAWA, Sept. 19 — A software engineer who was exonerated of any involvement in terrorism by a Canadian government inquiry said Tuesday that he wanted the United States to explain why he was sent to Syria, where he was jailed and tortured.

And in addition to compensation and an apology from the Canadian authorities, whose inaccurate information contributed to his deportation to Syria, Maher Arar, 37, said he also wanted Prime Minister Stephen Harper to contact President Bush to demand that his name, as well as those of his family members, be formally cleared in the United States.

“It is my hope that the U.S. government provides the people with a valid explanation of what happened,” Mr. Arar said in an interview. “What does this do for the credibility of the U.S. government when it talks about protecting human rights?”

In its report, released Monday, the commission of inquiry said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had supplied American authorities with false information, including the claim that the Syrian-born Mr. Arar and his wife were “suspected of being linked to the Al Qaeda movement.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/world/americas/20canada.html?_r=1&oref=login

Crossposted in the Canada forum http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=190x17131

[fooj]

5. Holy crap.