From the ACLU (h/t Dan Froomkin for tweeting it):
NEW YORK – In a historic ruling, the European Court of Human Rights today condemned Macedonia's illegal transfer of Khaled El-Masri into CIA custody and found that his abusive treatment at Macedonia's airport by the U.S. rendition team "amounted to torture." The court also found that his abduction and detention – including the time he was in U.S. custody – constituted "enforced disappearance" under international law.
"Today’s landmark decision is a stark reminder of America's utter failure to hold its own officials accountable for serious violations of both U.S. and international law. Continued lack of accountability is turning the United States into an outlier among its European allies, which is an appalling outcome for a nation that prides itself as a global leader on the rule of law and human rights," said Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Program. "Today’s ruling makes it harder for the United States to continue burying its head in the sand and ignoring domestic and global calls for full accountability for torture. This remarkable decision will no doubt put greater pressure on European nations to fully account for their complicity in cooperating with the illegal CIA 'extraordinary rendition' program, and to hold responsible those who violated the human rights of El-Masri and those like him."
El-Masri is a German citizen who in 2003 was mistaken for another person and abducted by Macedonian authorities at a border crossing and held incommunicado for 23 days. He was then handed over to CIA operatives who put him on a secret flight a "black site" in Afghanistan where he was secretly held, tortured and abused for about four months.
http://www.aclu.org/...
The European Court of Human Rights' full ruling can be read here:
https://www.aclu.org/...
(Warning -- El-Masri's account of his detention, contained therein, is extremely disturbing)
Let's hope this is one step toward bringing justice to the Bush Cabal war criminals.