In the Fellini-esque movie that runs daily in the Halls of Congress, I am sitting in a hearing room in the Rayburn H.O.B., listening to Dana Rohrbacher compare the rendition program with medical errors that happen "all the time".
And YES! He just went to the chestnut d'annee: "There has not been an attack against the US since 9-11".
Script updates will commence as we go along.
John Conyers now up. He shares his respect for all, including Rohrbacher and Jeff Flake.
Amnesty Intl. statement is entered into the record. I don't have the statement but here is a transcript from their site.
And now we move to the Ottawa panel, including Mr. Arar.
Others I see here:
Mel Watt, Jerrold Nadler, Peer Delahunt (Chairman)
Mr. Conyers offers the article from Feb. 14, 2005 in The New Yorker, "Outsourcing Torture".
The issue is framing up as a discussion about good vs. bad behavior and who has the edge on good. Additionally, there are clearly assumptions on the Republican side that Muslims are, mostly, suspected terrorists.
Fasten seat belts, Nadler is speaking:
Last year I tried to get Gonzales to answer the question: Do we snatch people off the streets and commit them to situations in which torture can happen? No answer was forthcoming.
In the case of Arar, who was locked up in Nadler's district and then shipped off to Syria, and who subsequently was acquitted and released, our govt. has still not admitted a mistake was made.
Canada apologized to Mr. Arar and his family, and yet he is still on the terrorist list. Our government has not admitted it was a mistake.
Our govt. claims the authority to snatch a guy off the street--a KIDNAPPING, while changing planes to GO HOME to Canada.
Mr. Franks from AZ echoes Mr. Rohrbacher's sorrow about the tragedy that has fallen Mr. Arar. Emphasizing that Mr. Arar is a dual citizen; I guess that makes it OK to have rendered him to Syria.
Now Mr. Franks is stating that Canada was right to be suspicious of Mr. Arar, and then the RCMP provided misleading information to the U. S. authorities.
I think we can see where this is going....
Mr. Arar is speaking now.
He thanks Mr. Rohrbacher and Mr. Franks for their apologies. He says he has never been charged with any crime. He is not a terrorist. He is a father, a husband, and an engineer. He cannot be here in person because he is not allowed in this country.
He is speaking to prevent this from happening to anyone else.
This is not the country he came to in 1999 to learn from.
He was brought before a panel. He was asked why he did not want to go to Syria. He said he was afraid he would be tortured there.
He was flown to Syria in the mddle of the night, on a private jet. He was placed in a cell that was 6X6; a grave.
He was beaten and when he was not being beaten he was placed in a waiting room, and forced to listen to the screams of others, including women, who were being beaten.
He is still haunted by their screams.
"I am not the same person that I was."
I am sitting here and trying to see the faces of those listening; those powerful men who are the guardians of democracy: the Members. Jeff Flake is yawning, I hope someone can bring him some coffee. Mr. Nadler is taking notes.
The position is impossible when a person is put in the position of defending themselves against "secret" testimony. Torture is never right, or legal.
Jeff Flake speaking now.
He has been troubled by this case and issue for a while. We need to address this practice.