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Maher Arar Loses ‘Last Hope’ in US Court Ruling
WASHINGTON—Canadian torture victim Maher Arar’s rendition ordeal is now a closed file in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision to end judicial review of the U.S. role in sending him to Syria eight years ago.
Canadian Maher Arar is shown in 2007 holding a copy of a Canadian inquiry report exonerating him. (TOM HANSON/CP FILE PHOTO) The U.S. High Court on Monday declined review of Arar’s
case – a development that means the Syrian-born man’s case “now never
will be heard” in an American courtroom, according to the U.S.-based
constitutional rights organization arguing on his behalf.
Arar himself acknowledged the decision “eliminates my last bit of hope in the judicial system of the United States.
“When it comes to ‘national security’ matters the judicial system has willingly abandoned its sacred role of ensuring that no one is above the law,” he said in a statement.
In the wake of the high court decision, the Center for Constitutional Rights is calling on U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress to follow Ottawa’s lead in issuing an apology and compensation to Arar.
“The courts have regrettably refused to right the egregious wrong done to Maher Arar. But the courts have never questioned that a wrong was done. They have simply said that it is up to the political branches to fashion a remedy,” said CCR attorney David Cole.
“But this decision only underscores the moral responsibility of those to whom the courts deferred – President Obama and Congress – to do the right thing and redress Arar’s injuries.”
Arar’s grim odyssey began in September, 2002, when he was detained during a stopover at JFK Airport on suspicion of terrorist activity. The Bush administration then shipped him against his will to his native Syria, where he was tortured in an underground cell in Damascus for nearly a year.
Arar—the first and best-known victim of a process known as “extraordinary rendition”—won full exoneration from Ottawa in 2007, including public apologies and $10 million in damages, after an exhaustive public inquiry.
Later that year Arar was able to testify via video at a U.S. House Joint Committee Hearing convened to discuss his rendition to Syria. During the hearing individual members of Congress apologized to Arar. But the U.S. government has yet to formally acknowledge any mistakes in his case.
27 Comments so far
Show AllFASCISM
Fascism. Yes it is, wake up America and smell the steaming stench!
Our liberties are gone and our country has been sold and we traded it all just to be entertained! Try bitching about it now and your likely to end up with a face full of pepper spray or worse. Enjoy your uniquely Amerikan freedom.
Good job stultified Amerkia!
It would be interesting to know how the justices voted individually. It is my understanding that it takes four votes to grant certiorari. Who of The Four voted with the usual suspects? (My guess is Breyer.) God forbid they should let something like extraordinary rendition or government-sponsored torture be aired.
Further, it seems to me the 2d Circuit is vying with the 4th and DC for the 'most reactionary' title, with the 9th (Bybee's) not far behind.
Quite correct. Indeed the US President now has more power over citizens of the United States of America, then the King of England had over them in 1775.
King George would have been beheaded had he claimed the powers Barack Obama claims for himself.
This just more evidence that the American revolution was NOT about "Freedom and Liberty and the Bill of rights" but rather the consolidation of power into the hands of the few.
You are correct in your statement, but your conclusion is faulty. The Constitution and Bill of Rights were put in place to guard against what is happening today. Jefferson, Franklin, Madison all warned against business and finance taking over the country. Jackson warned us and so did Lincoln.
The main problem is that We the People have sat back and ignored the corruption of the government, largely because they expected the riches to trickle down to them. It doesn't.
The checks and balances written into the Constitution was put there to keep any one branch from becoming dictator. I don't think they ever believed that the corporate powers, the Oligarchy if you will, could quietly purchase and control all three branches of the government, nor could they have foreseen that We the People would stand by and watch the Bill of Rights be canceled out by the "Enabling Act" known as the Patriot Act.
I forget at the moment which of the Founders answered, when asked what they thought of the new republic, "Fine, if you can keep it." We haven't, and now, someday, we will have to fight a bloody war to get it back, if we have the will and the guts. Then we will truly understand what Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and various other countries have suffered under our greedy warlords.
Please don't blame the Constitution and Bill of Rights for the mess we are in. If we had stood up to this when it first happened instead of listening to Washington and the Mass Media's endless fear and "big lie" propaganda, we might not be in the same spot we are currently in. The founders of this nation affirmed repeatedly that eternal vigilance was the price of freedom. We have been neither vigilant, nor even concerned as our freedoms were quietly taken away, one piece of legislation, one judicial decision, one executive order at a time.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin 1759
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”
Thomas Jefferson
1743 - 1826
What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
– Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)
So, that is it. Don't continually blame the Constitution for our troubles. It was drawn up to meet the conditions that pertained in the late 1700's, early 1800's, with enough safeguards to keep the Republic alive, as long as we made every effort to keep it that way. The mess we are in is not due to the documents, but to our failure to use them and our failure to rise up on our hind legs and tell the government that we will not see the "rule and guide" of our government unconstitutionally set aside. The Constitution (including the Bill of Rights) cannot be set aside, nor can it be changed without the process of amendment. It cannot be changed by legislative or executive fiat. The Supreme Court was established to see that this did not happen. There was a time when the Supreme Court was manned by the finest legal minds in the nation. Now, it has become the final, lifetime refuge of political hacks put in place to make sure that Hitler’s dictum works here, too. Hitler said, to truly control a country, you must first control its courts. Then, whatever you do is legal and anything the opposition does is illegal.
We the People have allowed this to happen, and it will be ultimately our job to take it back and restore it. Are we up to it?
The Bill of Rights was added later, as an after-thought. Mostly, the Constitution drew up a structure for the republic and for "defense." It was drawn up by landholders meeting in private who wanted to hold onto their lands stolen from Native Americans. They were called "men of substance" in the day, and originally voting was dependent on property holding. Black slaves were deemed three-fifths of a person, but only for representational purposes.
It was "life, liberty and the pursuit of property," with the last word changed to "happiness." Of course, it's somewhat difficult to be happy when you're in hock to someone else for merely being born on a patch of ground. In over 200 years, this paradox goes unmentioned.
The founding fathers were the plutocrats of their day, or rather, the nouveau riche. They lived like the landed gentry of Europe, with slaves instead of serfs (Jefferson included). The first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said that "the people who own the country ought to govern it," which is not too different than our neocon Supreme Court of today.
Other constitutions today show the limitations of our present amended U.S. Constitution. So, for example, the Dutch constitution ensures that people have a place to live - a notable exception in the United States with its growing homeless population.
Sure, there was strong philosophical affinity with limiting the power of kings by the founders, who faced British troops. So, there's lots of talk about having well armed militias in place and prohibiting troop quarterings and illegal search and seizures. Certainly, the founders would be appalled at the Bush-Obama agreement of dispensing with the Magna Carta tradition of habeas corpus. As for assembly and speech rights, they were willing to sacrifice them (Alien and Sedition Acts):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts
One of the problems with the republic is that short of elections and civil war, you have no power over how your representative votes. And that turns out to be a very weak method of expressing "people power." Howard Zinn's Peoples History of the United States noted that the structure of government was changed from a unicameral Congress to the present House and Senate precisely to thwart lobbying by the people.
Oh, I'd say that the new plutocrats are the corporations. They definitely run things here. They even write the laws these days. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
-TIA
Spare us the Thom Hartmann crap. The Founding Fathers had one thing in mind, and one thing only: protecting their privilege. Cling desperately to their pious bloviations all you want; their handling of the Whiskey Rebellion, Shays' Rebellion, and Sally Hemings is all you need to pay attention to.
Anytime people use the locution, "We the people" instead of "we" or "us" beware. They almost always are raving Constitutional idolators. In this case, "The Constitution (including the Bill of Rights) cannot be set aside. . ." Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, most of the early Southern presidents owned people, FDR incarcerated Japanese-Americans without due process. . . the list goes on and on.
American courts were never any hope at all. When have you actually seen such courts dispense justice? If they ever do it would be in spite of their mandate not because of it. His main hope will be the world court. The American government like its trainee the Israeli one is beneath contempt so don't ever count on it to do the right thing.
Truth and Justice are NOT the American Way. The message is the federal government is above the law when it invokes "national security" for anything. In other words, the US Supreme Court just confirmed the US is a dictatorship. The neocons have won.
By not reviewing Arar's case the Supreme Court sent a clear signal that it will give carte blanche to whatever actions the executive branch desires especially when it comes to anything that remotely resembles [alleged] national security. Former liberal Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas is probably turning over in his grave right now at the abhorrent and indifferent behavior of his fellow justices. This is indeed a black day for civil libertarians as they once again see another loathsome example [especially in light of how Canada apologized to Mr. Arar for what he had gone through]of American Exceptionalism at work.
Unfortunately this is just another example of how the U.S. government has never apologized for its actions as it has never, to the best of my knowledge, admitted wrong doing in its treatment of Native Americans and enslaving millions of Africans during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries while subsequently enacting Jim Crow laws against African-Americans. Ironically this article appears on Common Dreams on Flag Day, a day in which Americans should realize that they have very little to be proud of [as evidenced by what happened to Mr. Arar, no universal health care, the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, the launching of drone missiles in Pakistan and Yemen, the BP disaster in the Gulf, etc.].
"This bastard judicial system is so corrupt."
- 9/11 widow Ellen Mariani
Ellen - It's not just the Judicial branch. The whole friggin' system is rotten to the core. And of course the 9-11 hoax ushered in the beginning of the Middle East assault. And, will the truth of 9-11 ever come to light?? I am sorry for your loss, but as long as Big Money is in control (...and it looks like it will be that way for a long time thanks to the Supreme Court's decision on corporate personhood), "Truth and Justice for All" will only be an empty slogan. We are now approaching 10 years since the Twin Towers (and let's not forget building 7) were toppled. It's time to get to the truth. As long as main stream media refuses to ask the tough questions regarding 9-11, just figure that it will be business as usual. BIG BUSINESS!!
Smells like fascism to me.
Frankly I am not surprised, yet this actually strengthens this tragic mans plight within the auspices of the World Court to which the US--while arrogantly snubbing this body --will one day have to answer to it. I believe that all victims of estraordinary rendition, as it is so fascistically called, will have their day in court, but it will be big whigs of the Bush and Obama admin who will be on trial. The best that can be done now is to gather a collective of victims of U.S. crimes and thicken the dossier until that time when the international court is robust enough to bring the criminals to trial. Until then its going to have to be a massive support campaign for people like Maher who need all the support in the face of this apparent let down.
I hope the CCR isn't seriously thinking that Obama can be moved to have an opinion in the case.
Probably, CCR is realistic about Obama as it's a really smart group. However, it's important for them to try. It will add to his historical record of abject failures.
-TIA
afghanistan, gitmo, healthcare, torture, assassination, isn't it clear that the american presidency is only a figurehead position, a pr exercise ... obama is not in charge of anything.
What else could one expect from a military industrial dictatorship?
Potter sez: "... individual members of Congress apologized to Arar. But the U.S. government has yet to formally acknowledge any mistakes in his case."
***
The U.S. doesn't make ANY mistakes. EVER.
The sooner all you recalcitrant foreigners get that through your head, the sooner everyone can have "peace"™ ...
... and a nice Telescreen.
"The U.S.Supreme Court declined review of Arar's case" and Rafil Dhafir's petition for Certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court June 7, 2010
My dear friend, Diane, who died recently was passionately opposed to the economic sanctions against Iraq. About 15 years ago, she called me when she read a letter I wrote against the sanctions that was published in our local newspaper and introduced herself to me and we became friends. We were trying to get the world to realize the suffering and deaths of babies and children in Iraq, due to the U.S. imposed sanctions. I wrote Rafil Dhafir today and told him that I wish I could have accomplished what he did for those suffering children. The children Diane and I cried about at night when trying to fall asleep in our comfortable beds, thinking about how much pain the children and their parents were suffering. I told Rafil :"What you did, violating the sanctions to get aid through the blockade against Iraq, to save the lives of the children, was right and just in the eyes of all good people and the Almighty Creator. It must be so difficult to know that "the U.S. powers that be" will have to admit that America was wrong if they are to rectify the travesty of justice that they have committed against you and other innocent Muslim men. But, we will never give up hope, that truth and justice will prevail and all innocent Muslim men will be freed." Rafil Dhafir was not a national security concern when he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for breaking the sanctions, the U.S. government officials and all who support their bombs,torture,and blockades against the children in the middle East are the real national security concern.
It should be noted that extraordinary rendition is the stated policy of the Obama administration, as Bush before him.
Please, please, please, Obamabots - take notice of this fact, which is an abomination. Support no one who supports torture - even by proxy. Let's be real clear here. You can't support Obama in 2012 because Obama supports torture. It's real simple.
-TIA
We were Bushwhacked for eight years, now we live in the Obamanation. What is the difference, beyond wider wars, more poverty and homelessness, decreasing medical care, runaway inflation, greater gifts to the oligarchy and the military, and then there is BP and a slight spill in the Gulf.
Perhaps, one day Mr. Arar will get justice. That day will be when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney stand in the dock at the Hague, Netherlands. We can all hope, and keep Obama's and Holder's feet to the fire!
My apologies to Maher Arar,
You just had your first taste of American justice. You are fortunate, some people have to wait 25 years to get the same treatment you received from our judicial system. We have a saying in the good ole US of A, “Money talks and bullshit walks”. No money, No Justice.
One would think that the highest Court in the land would mete out justice objectively with impartially, regardless of money, power, without fear or favor of who one is or how much power one has.
Unfortunately, this is the Supreme Court of the United States of America where you are appointed for life by people whose motto is, “In God we trust, everybody else pays cash”. The Statue of a lady that you see in front of the Courthouse with the Scales of Justice is strictly an advertisement. Although I think a little more cleavage would be appropriate. It is always best, when soliciting perspective customers, to let them know what they will be getting when they actually get to the screwing part.
P.S. A prerequisite for a Judge is that you are well educated but a failure as a trial lawyer, are connected and will follow instruction.