U.S. Government Called on to Clear Tortured Suspect's Name
"U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' response to the Canadian report is outrageous," said IPS Director John Cavanagh. "The U.S. rendition of Arar to Syria destroyed an innocent man's life, and such renditions go against every principle of human rights which the United States should embrace." IPS plans to screen Arar's videotaped acceptance speech on Oct. 18, the night of the awards ceremony, because he is still barred from entry into the United States. [See below for the entire press release from IPS and more on the awards ceremony.] According to a September 19 article from OneWorld on Yahoo! News: Arar, a Canadian computer technician of Syrian descent, was detained by U.S. authorities on his way home from a family vacation in Tunisia nearly four years ago. He was brought into custody by federal authorities during a stop-over at John F. Kennedy airport and was taken to an immigration facility in New York. Two weeks later he was secretly flown to Jordan aboard a Gulfstream Jet. Arar ended up in Syria where he was held in a tiny cell and repeatedly tortured. For weeks even his family didn't know where he was. On Monday, the Canadian government admitted for the first time that Arar was completely innocent. Justice Dennis O'Connor released the findings of a two-year major investigation into the disappearance of Arar, writing, ''I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offence or that his activities constituted a threat to the security of Canada.''... For Arar's attorney, Julian Falconer, the case provides a cautionary warning for how governments should not act in prosecuting what Bush and his allies have dubbed the "war on terror." "The biases that exist in the post-9/11 era really came to fruition in this case," Falconer told OneWorld. "A man who is of Middle Eastern background, who is a Canadian citizen, who was nothing but a constructive contributing member of society, was stopped by the U.S. government and thrown in jail for thirteen months. It happened because of biases about his background, his age, and what religion he and his wife are." Falconer said he understands why Bush is pushing for special rules to try terror suspects but that doesn't mean the entire justice system should be thrown out. "It's quite true that we have to get used to the fact that our freedoms will have to be curtailed, but that doesn't swing you to the other extreme," he said. "A classic example of the other extreme is the Guantanamo Bay nightmare. People are being detained for years and years without any process whatsoever. That's what I would call the other extreme." ---------------------------------- INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES NEWS RELEASE For More Information Emily Schwartz Greco (202) 297-5412; emily@ips-dc.org Phyllis Bennis (202) 234-9382 (o); (202) 309-1377 (m) pbennis@ips-dc.org www.ips-dc.org IPS Calls for the U.S. Government to Clear Maher Arar's Name The Institute for Policy Studies, which in May selected Maher Arar and his lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights as recipients of a Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, welcomes the Canadian Commission of Inquiry's findings regarding his ordeal. IPS calls on the U.S. government to clear his name and that of his family, all falsely identified as having "terrorist" links. IPS plans to screen Arar's videotaped acceptance speech on Oct. 18, the night of the awards ceremony, because he is still barred from entry into the United States. "U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' response to the Canadian report is outrageous," said IPS Director John Cavanagh. "The U.S. rendition of Arar to Syria destroyed an innocent man's life, and such renditions go against every principle of human rights which the United States should embrace." "Maher's arrest and rendition to Syria to be tortured, was not only terribly wrong, it violated international law," said IPS fellow Phyllis Bennis. "The Bush administration has made such violations an integral part of its so-called 'global war on terror.' How many more Maher Arars have U.S. officials banished to be tortured in other extra-judicial prisons or in torture chambers run by 'allies of convenience' around the world?" This year's awards program will mark the 30th anniversary of the September 21, 1976 car bombing that killed Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier and American Ronni Karpen Moffitt. Until 9/11, it was the most infamous act of international terrorism ever to take place in our nation's capital. Letelier and Moffitt were colleagues at the Institute for Policy Studies, where Letelier had become one of the most outspoken critics of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Moffitt was a 25-year-old fundraiser who ran a "Music Carryout" that made musical instruments accessible to all. A massive FBI investigation traced the crime to the highest levels of Pinochet's regime. Since that tragic event, the Institute for Policy Studies has hosted an annual human rights event in the names of Letelier and Moffitt to honor these fallen colleagues while celebrating new heroes of the human rights movement from the United States and elsewhere in the Americas such as Maher Arar. Awardees are selected by a distinguished committee of 12 human rights leaders from labor, Latin America solidarity, and other fields. For more than four decades, the Institute for Policy Studies has transformed ideas into action for peace, justice, and the environment. It is a progressive multi-issue think tank. |
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