Who remembers Khaled el-Masri, the German citizen kidnapped by the CIA?
Apparently, most Americans don't. This man is a German citizen. He was the victim of an "extraordinary rendition" in Macedonia in 2003. He claims to have been secretly sent to a US base in Afghanistan where he was tortured. With the ACLU's help, he tried to sue George Tenet and other CIA officials for money and for an apology. The case was just dismissed. The reason for the dismissal? The trial might reveal state secrets. According to the BBC, the district court judge said that "private interests must give way to the national interest in preserving state secrets." The case was dismissed not from lack of evidence, but because state secrets need to be protected. This statement is unbelievable and should make every American shudder. This is outrageous in so many ways.
Just take a look at the statement. "Private interests must give way to national interest in preserving state secret." Basically, state secrets are more important than any personal interest may be. This is crap. The entire point of a free society is that the state is never supposed to be more important than the individual for any reason. We have security clearance levels, and people can be given clearance specifically to review this case. One of the reasons that we even have a system of checks and balances is to ensure that the state does not become more important than the rights of the individual. But in dismissing this case, the district court judge negated this basic democratic principle. How can we call ourselves a democratic nation anymore when state secrets are more important than the individual? The US is supposed to be a government for the people and by the people, not a government by the elite for the state. The fact that the plaintiff claims to have been kidnapped and tortured makes this so much worse.
Furthermore, the district court judge had the audacity to claim that trying to get compensation for being kidnapped and possibly tortured by the state is a "private interest." The US government kidnaps and possibly tortures citizens of other nations and it does so in our names. The fact that this is done in our name for our supposed protection makes this issue a public one, not a private one. Also, declaring this issue (compensation for torture and kidnapping) is a private interest demeans every single person inside and outside of the US. To me, claiming that compensation for kidnapping and torture is an interest completely downplays the severity fo the complaint. I'm sorry, but freedom from being kidnapped is not merely an interest. This is an individual right, not a mere interest. Suing to receive compensation and an apology for kidnapping and torture isn't just a personal interest. Calling it one and then going on to say that state secrets are more important is simply outrageous.
And I don't know what's worse: the reasons for dismissing this case or the fact that this story is virtually absent from all US media and on-line political forums.