How CSIS botched Arar file

[struggle4progress]

Syria's ruthless secret service misread a signal that Canada, despite diplomatic pressure for Arar's release, was really in no hurry to get him back.

JAMES TRAVERS

Truth is often stranger than fiction. In the Maher Arar case it is also more twisted and disturbing.

Here's the truth: Canada's spy agency not only told Syria it had "no interest" in Arar during a November 2002 trip to Damascus, that shadowy visit was unrelated to the plight of the Ottawa engineer deported by the United States and imprisoned in the Mideast country.

Now here's the twist:

Misunderstanding about the meaning of the phrase and the purpose of the CSIS mission to the Syrian capital apparently contributed to Arar's suffering and is now complicating understanding of a case that could shift the delicate balance between personal privacy and public security. <snip>

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1118268614220&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795


CSIS wanted Arar to stay in Syria: Memo
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, Parliamentary Bureau

Canada's spy agency "made it clear" it wanted Maher Arar to languish in Syria instead of being returned home, according to a newly released government document.

The secret memorandum, dated June 24, 2003, was previously blacked out for national security reasons and contradicts persistent denials by CSIS that it played a role in Arar's lengthy detention.

"CSIS has made it clear to the department that they would prefer to have him remain in Syria, rather than return to Canada," the draft Foreign Affairs memo reads.

"CSIS officials do not seem to understand that, guilty or innocent, Maher Arar has the right to consular assistance from the department and that in the circumstances in which he presently finds himself, the best outcome might be his return to Canada." <snip>

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/OttawaSun/News/2005/06/04/1070856-sun.html


U.S. demand was unacceptable

The Gazette
June 3, 2005

For the first time, a plausible explanation has emerged about why U.S. authorities failed to send Maher Arar back to Canada. The news came out at the public inquiry into his case being held in Ottawa .

Testifying at the inquiry on Wednesday, Liberal Senator Pierre De Bane, who acted as then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien's special envoy to Syria on the case, said he was told in 2003 that U.S. security officials had offered to send Arar back to Canada in October 2002, but only if Canada promised to charge and imprison him.

Canadian authorities rejected the condition, De Bane said, adding, "The Canadians said to the Americans, "We have a Charter of Rights ... we don't have cause to arrest and press charges and put him in jail." <snip>

http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=66cc6e78-8b15-40aa-acb3-01edb6ae4b02