WP - Saudi Subcontractors (US Citizen Tortured & Detained w/o Charge)

[leveymg]

NOTE: This guy is a US Citizen and the Justice Dept. is arguing that the courts can do nothing to compel the Bush Administration to seek his extradition back to America. What if, say, the Administration decided to look the other way while Saudi Intel kidnapped other Americans suspected of being "terrorist" wannabes? They could cut a pretty wide swath.

The Bushies are getting very creative. At least under a totalitarian regime you know who's holding you. Mr. Orwell, meet Mr. Kafka, meet Mr. Gonzalez.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12513-2004Dec19.html

WashPost - Editorial
Saudi Subcontractors
Monday, December 20, 2004; Page A22

THE FACTS surrounding Ahmed Abu Ali's detention and possible torture in Saudi Arabia remain shrouded in diplomatic and law enforcement secrecy. Caution, therefore, is certainly in order in assessing the U.S. government's role in the arrest a year and a half ago of this American citizen and in his detention without charge or access to counsel ever since. But as U.S. District Judge John D. Bates put it last week in a compelling opinion on the case, Mr. Abu Ali's lawyers "have not only alleged, but have presented some unrebutted evidence, that detention is at the behest and ongoing direction of United States officials." This evidence, Judge Bates wrote, is "considerable" though "of varying degrees of competence and persuasiveness." And he rejected the government's motion to dismiss the case, deciding that he needs to know more about the circumstances of Mr. Abu Ali's detention before concluding that the detention of an American by Saudi authorities is beyond the purview of U.S. courts.

Mr. Abu Ali was arrested in June 2003 while taking a final exam at a Saudi university. Around that time, three other Americans were detained as part of the same investigation. The others were extradited and charged here in connection with the operation of the alleged jihadist cell in Virginia that trained for terrorism using paintball. But Mr. Abu Ali was not extradited, though the FBI has suggested that he admitted in his Saudi interrogation seeking to form an al Qaeda cell. He and his parents claim there was no case to make against him, so American authorities -- instead of putting diplomatic pressure on the Saudis to release him -- have encouraged Saudi authorities to let him rot.

The story may well be more complicated than these allegations suggest. But instead of contesting them, the government has argued that no U.S. court has jurisdiction over the case.

>SNIP<

That same executive branch, however, knows exactly what role this country may have played -- and may still be playing -- in the detention and possible torture of one of its citizens. If these allegations are true, it needs to immediately notify Saudi authorities that they should not continue holding Mr. Abu Ali on America's account. If, on the other hand, the Saudis are holding him for reasons of their own, America should be taking strong diplomatic action to help a citizen detained without charge abroad. If Mr. Abu Ali has done something wrong, he should be charged. If not, the United States should not be encouraging, or winking at, his persecution.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

1. Saw this man's sister

On television a couple months, testifying before Congress I believe. She was asking them to either come out with the charges against him, or have the diplomatic team in Saudi lodge a protest to get him out of there. Sounds like he was a standup sort of guy -- there were letters of support from elderly neighbors attesting to his character, teachers, etc.

Shame.

[leveymg]

2. Most will look the other way because of his Arab name . . .

but, if this stuff continues, the same could happen to any American. The strange ability to selectively ignore persecution was what allowed the Nazis to end up killing so many of their fellow Germans (along with millions of others.)

Interesting. I previously haven't seen The Washington Post apply the word persecution to a US Citizen, as if it never happened before.

If the editorial board of the Post is this alarmed, we should be even more so.

[zbdent]

3. Two words

Elian Gonzales.

Political nightmare for Clinton/Gore. Return a child to his rightful parent in "Communist" Cuba, or let the peripheral relatives whom the kid had never known keep the kid hostage in "Free" America . . .

Freeper types wanted to throw away international law just to score a political embarassment for Clinton/Gore . . .