bonoman
Refugee
What the hell happened in the Maher Arar case.
For those not familiar with it he is a Syrian born man that was then living in Canada (Canadian citizen) since he was 17 . He has a masters in telecommuniscations. He was on holidays in Tunis and had to come back to deal with his company in Ottawa he had to fly through New York.
He was pulled aside at the airport and questioned, he asked for a lawyer but was refused because they said (they being FBI) that he wasnt a American Citizen therefore wasnt allowed one.They had personal info on him that he suspects came from Canada. They asked him about a known terrorist. he knew his brother, who he wroked with, and had met the terroritst a few times in passing.
They then put cuffs on his legs nad hands and moved him to another part of the airport. He had not eaten or slept in over a day. He was interrogated for hours on end. He was then asked to sign a paper. he did so. After a five days he was given a phone call. he called his mother-in-law (of all people) to get him a lawyer. After 7 or 8 days a Canadian offical showed up and said he would not be deported. A few days later he was deported to Jordan then to Syria. He spent 10 months being tortured and in a 'grave' type cell. He was given little food. No bathroom only a two litre bottle. he was torture on a regular basis. He was finally let go after 370 odd days. He is back in Canada and is alive.
What i want to know is what the fuck happened!
Was this man let down by the Canadian gov't for 10 months?
Should the US have never sent him to Syria, rather to Canada?
Why was he tortured?
Should there be a inquiry?
Jean Chrieten stated yesterday that this is entirely the US's fault that he is demanding the names of Americans that were involved, but no public inquiry.
Thoughts.
If you would like to read his story i urge you to go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/arar_statement.html
It is a chilling story.
For those not familiar with it he is a Syrian born man that was then living in Canada (Canadian citizen) since he was 17 . He has a masters in telecommuniscations. He was on holidays in Tunis and had to come back to deal with his company in Ottawa he had to fly through New York.
He was pulled aside at the airport and questioned, he asked for a lawyer but was refused because they said (they being FBI) that he wasnt a American Citizen therefore wasnt allowed one.They had personal info on him that he suspects came from Canada. They asked him about a known terrorist. he knew his brother, who he wroked with, and had met the terroritst a few times in passing.
They then put cuffs on his legs nad hands and moved him to another part of the airport. He had not eaten or slept in over a day. He was interrogated for hours on end. He was then asked to sign a paper. he did so. After a five days he was given a phone call. he called his mother-in-law (of all people) to get him a lawyer. After 7 or 8 days a Canadian offical showed up and said he would not be deported. A few days later he was deported to Jordan then to Syria. He spent 10 months being tortured and in a 'grave' type cell. He was given little food. No bathroom only a two litre bottle. he was torture on a regular basis. He was finally let go after 370 odd days. He is back in Canada and is alive.
What i want to know is what the fuck happened!
Was this man let down by the Canadian gov't for 10 months?
Should the US have never sent him to Syria, rather to Canada?
Why was he tortured?
Should there be a inquiry?
Jean Chrieten stated yesterday that this is entirely the US's fault that he is demanding the names of Americans that were involved, but no public inquiry.
Thoughts.
If you would like to read his story i urge you to go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/arar_statement.html
It is a chilling story.
