Tortured Canadian Maher Arar Still Can't Enter U.S.

Maher Arar, the Syrian-born Canadian who was arrested in New York in 2002 then sent by the US government to Syria for torture is to be awarded the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award today. The award is to be presented to Arar in Washington, DC by activist Vanessa Redgrave.

But there's a catch:

The catch? Arar won't be attending the ceremony in person, because he is still on a US immigration watch list that may require US officials to arrest him if he tries to enter the United States. His wife is on the list too. He'll be receiving his award via video link instead.

This all comes in spite of the fact that a recent Canadian commission of inquiry concluded that Arar had no ties to terrorists whatsoever and had been detained by US authorities and sent to Syria illegally.

Redgrave spoke with Canada's CBC earlier today. You can read about it here. The AP is also reporting on this story, which you can read in the Toronto Star here. CBC News has a useful timeline of the Arar story.