Previously classified documents from the case of Maher Arar have just been released, over the objections of the Canadian government. Arar was the victim of CIA extraordinary rendition and torture in Syria, for the period of an entire year, on the basis of a false and coerced statement from another captive.
It also tells us why the US government and all governments these days are so interested in secrecy based and executive privilege on 'national security', like in the Duke Cunningham/Thomas Kontogiannis case.
It's fear of EMBARASSMENT and COVER-UPS. Lifting the veil on these illegal and immoral practices would give too much power to the opposing political enemies. We see it time and time again, with Pat Tillman, with CIA torture sites, with the US Attorneys purge. Obviously, sunlight needs shine and root out the dark people perpetrating these crimes.
In the Arar case, he was an engineer on a transfer flight to Canada which stopped in New York, at which point police forces removed him, refused to let him contact a lawyer, and who eventually found his way in Syria, where he was regularly tortured for many months. You can read more about his story in the sites I listed below. The Canadian intelligence agency CSIS co-ordinated with the CIA in his extraordinary rendition to Syria, about which the State Department says (no US Ambassadors to Syria either...hmm) http://www.state.gov/... :
The several main branches of the security services operate independently of each other and outside of the legal system. Each continues to be responsible for human rights violations. ... . Issues of U.S. concern include the Syrian Government's failure to prevent Syria from becoming a major transit point for foreign fighters entering Iraq, its refusal to deport from Syria former Saddam regime elements who are supporting the insurgency in Iraq, its ongoing interference in Lebanese affairs, its protection of the leadership of Palestinian rejectionist groups in Damascus, its deplorable human rights record, and its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. In May 2004, the Bush administration, pursuant to the provisions of the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, imposed sanctions on Syria which banned nearly all exports to Syria except food and medicine. In February 2005, in the wake of the Hariri assassination, the U.S. recalled its Ambassador to Washington.
or http://www.state.gov/...
During the year local human rights organizations cited numerous cases of security forces torturing prisoners, including the case of 200 Kurds on trial in a Damascus military court for their involvement in the March 2004 riots in Qamishli. During the proceedings, a number of detainees complained of torture and displayed their injuries to the judge. Torture of political detainees also was common.
Can people still really plead ignorance in this case?
The evidence gathered was so circumstantial, so flimsy, and it contradicted the basis of Western law. Judges approved wiretaps against Arar based on 'evidence' obtained through torture and coercion (though the judge wasn't told). This is in complete contrast to what we are told happens in the FISA court, for example, where FBI agents who lie about evidence are blackballed for life, so the incentive to be truthful is very high. How many more people are still in CIA prisons, from flimsy and fraudulent evidence, like Arar?
The Stephen Harper government argued that declassifying these documents would be a threat to national security, yet the documents instead show that they are more a threat to the CSIS and governmental people who committed the crimes against Maher Arar (in addition to smearing his name in newspapers via the RCMP).
BTW, the Canadian intelligence agency involved, CSIS was itself was created in the face of scandals from RCMP intelligence activities. Obviously, sunlight must be shone to solve these problems and prevent future ones from occurring.
Here are some articles that summarize its contents:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/... "Court lifts lid on secret Arar details"
http://www.ctv.ca/... "CSIS suspected Arar would be deported: documents"
Salient quotes and what I think should happen:
"The new information also confirms that the RCMP relied on questionable intelligence from abroad -- possibly acquired under torture -- but never told that to the judge when it asked for wiretaps against Arar."
With this in mind, I recommend that the Judge in question blackball the RCMP officer who gave this fradulent information to the court, and prevent him/her from presenting ANY evidence to them anymore; let the Judge alert the RCMP that anyone who gives fradulent evidence is forbidden to provide evidence to Court forevermore. This has precedent in the United States' FISA Court actions against FBI agents who lie in court.
"Lorne Waldman, a senior counsel for Arar, told CTV Newsnet the new revelations highlight an "urgent" need for the government to take Justice O'Connor's recommendations seriously. Waldman also says a new oversight body with "the power to review the conduct of the intelligence agency is also needed. Because these new revelations reveal again that they are not under control and it poses a great risk to our civil liberties if we don't take action now," he said."
Create oversight body with investigative and punitive powers
"The documents also reveal that on Oct. 10, 2002, two days after Arar was deported to Jordan before he was sent on to Syria, CSIS deputy director Jack Hooper said in a memorandum: "I think the U.S. would like to get Arar to Jordan where they can have their way with him." The documents also reveal that within a month of his detention in Syria, the country regarded Arar as a "nuisance" and "a minor actor." "If that's the way the Syrians viewed him in November of 2002, then why did we only get him out in October of 2003?" said Paul Cavalluzzo, who acted as chief counsel for a public inquiry into the Arar affair. "
This is evidence of CSIS malfeaseance in contact to the government, which had maintained that it didn't know that Arar would be tortured in Syria. Punitive measures must be exacted against involved CSIS officials, more direct oversight necessary.
From http://impolitical.blogspot.com/... :
Hooper's comments were dated two days after U.S. authorities removed Arar from a holding cell in New York and put him on a plane to Jordan — from where he was sent to Syria. They reflect that he suspected, but was not sure, that Arar might be sent to a third country for torture. Canadian officials learned on Oct. 9 that he had been sent to Syria.
According to the documents, a CSIS official in Washington wrote to his superiors in the fall of 2002, about the so-called "rendering" to third countries, saying that Arar's detention and subsequent handover amounted to such a case where U.S. authorities could not legally hold a terrorist suspect or wanted them questioned "in a firm manner." The officer was not identified in the documents.
This is just one aspect of today's court-ordered disclosure, but for which we would never have seen the influence of the CIA in all of this or the RCMP's lazy reliance on tortured confessions for obtaining search warrants.
What this means, according to one of Arar's lawyers:
Canada was trying to protect the CIA. Actually both governments are trying to hide secret information to stop themselves from being embarrassed because they don't want to expose their own role or that of their others in this case," said Maria LaHood, one of Arar's U.S. attorneys.
And of course, the original declassified documents are at http://ararcommission.ca , under "Addendum".
I hope this shows some people that the 'detainees' or whatever the US calls its prisoners of war, for the most part, are innocent -- it is horrible police work; just imagine if more police acted like this in the US. Just how many people need to be tortured then released without charges before you stop supporting this government? What has happened to the rule of law in the West? What will our government do to kickstart the need for morality again? We are still a democracy and have the rule of law. Courts and good police work are essential to combatting terrorism. Going after fake leads produced under torture? Canadians should be LIVID with these people wasting our taxpayers' money, wasting intelligence and human resources, all the while letting an innocent man rot for a YEAR in Syria! If Toronto police did that, there would be huge outcry. Obviously, CSIS needs to clean house and be subject to greater Parliamentary oversight. I would much rather live in a free country with terrorism, than a police state with terrorism.
BACKGROUND:
http://ararcommission.ca
http://maherarar.ca
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://www.cbc.ca/...
http://impolitical.blogspot.com/... "Harper government covered up the CIA's role in the Arar affair"