February, 01 2010, 03:10pm EDT
CCR Asks Supreme Court to Give Canadian Rendition Victim Maher Arar His Day in Court
Arar Seeks to Hold U.S. Officials Accountable for Complicity in Torture
NEW YORK
Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) asked the United States Supreme Court to take up the case of Canadian citizen Maher Arar against
U.S. officials for sending him to Syria to be interrogated under
torture and arbitrarily detained for a year. Lower courts concluded
that Mr. Arar's suit could not proceed because it raised sensitive
foreign policy and secrecy issues. If the Court of Appeals' ruling is
allowed to stand, the federal officials involved will effectively be
immunized from any civil legal accountability for what they did to an
innocent man.
Maher Arar is not available to comment in person, but
is issuing the following statement: "With renewed hope I am asking the
Supreme Court of the United States to hear my plight and eventually
overturn lower courts' rulings which essentially gave the government
the green light to continue the abuse of its executive powers in
matters related to National Security."
CCR attorneys say the Supreme Court should hear the case because the
Court of Appeals' decision not only contradicts Supreme Court decisions
but also raises issues of national importance by effectively immunizing
federal officials who conspired to subject Arar to torture, and to
block his access to a court that would almost certainly have barred the
federal officials from carrying out their illegal plan.
Because the case was fully briefed and argued before President Obama
took office, his administration has not yet had to take a position on
Mr. Arar's case, but is expected to do so in response to Mr. Arar's
petition.
Said Georgetown law professor and CCR cooperating attorney David Cole,
who argued Arar's case in the lower courts, "The courts below ruled
that federal officials cannot be sued for sending an innocent man to
Syria to be tortured because the case would be too sensitive - even
though Congress has declared that courts are fully competent to assess
claims that the United States is sending non-citizens to countries
where they face a risk of torture. We hope the Supreme Court will
reaffirm the role of checks and balances and afford Mr. Arar his day in
court."
Mr. Arar alleges that the U.S. officials named in the suit conspired
with Syrian officials to have him tortured in Syria, delivered him to
his torturers, provided them with a dossier on him and questions to ask
him, and then obtained the answers tortured out of him. The legal
arguments in the case revolve around whether U.S. officials can be sued
for damages if that is the only remedy available to the victim, and
whether Mr. Arar has a right to pursue his claims under the Torture
Victim Protection Act, among others.
"Thus far the United States courts have let Maher Arar down," said CCR Senior Attorney Maria LaHood. "Today
we ask the justices of the Supreme Court to consider Maher's case and
show the world that the Judiciary in this country is not broken, and
that it can and will declare that the men who delivered Maher to
torture and prevented him from going to court to stop them do not get a
free pass just because they worked for the U.S. government."
BACKGROUND
Mr. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was detained at JFK
Airport in September 2002 while changing planes on his way home to
Canada. The Bush administration labeled him a member of Al Qaeda and
sent him not to Canada, his home and country of citizenship, but
against his will to Syrian intelligence authorities renowned for
torture. He was tortured, interrogated and detained in a tiny
underground cell for nearly a year before the Syrian government
released him, stating they had found no connection to any criminal or
terrorist organization or activity.
In January 2004, just three months after he returned home to Canada
from his ordeal, CCR filed a suit on Mr. Arar's behalf against John
Ashcroft and other U.S. officials, the first to challenge the
government's policy of "extraordinary rendition," also known as
"outsourcing torture."
The Canadian government, after an exhaustive public inquiry, found that
Mr. Arar had no connection to terrorism and, in January 2007,
apologized to Mr. Arar for Canada's role in his rendition and awarded
him a multi-million-dollar settlement. The contrast between the two
governments' responses to their mistakes could not be more stark, say
Mr. Arar's attorneys. Both the Executive and Judicial branches of the
United States government have barred inquiry and refused to hold anyone
accountable for ruining the life of an innocent man.
Two Congressional hearings in October 2007 dealt with his case. On
October 18, 2007 Mr. Arar testified via video at a House Joint
Committee Hearing convened to discuss his rendition by the U.S. to
Syria for interrogation under torture. During that hearing - the first
time Mr. Arar testified before any U.S. governmental body - individual
members of Congress publicly apologized to him, though the government
still has not issued a formal apology. The next week, on October 24,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted during a House Foreign
Affairs Committee Hearing that the U.S. government mishandled his case.
The Court of Appeals case was heard a second time in December 2008
before twelve Second Circuit judges after a rare decision in August
2008 to rehear the case sua sponte, that is, of their own accord before
Mr. Arar had even sought rehearing. On November 2, 2009, the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals en banc affirmed the district court's decision
dismissing the case.
In a strongly worded dissent, Judge Guido Calabresi wrote, "I believe
that when the history of this distinguished court is written, today's
majority decision will be viewed with dismay."
Read more on Mr. Arar's case, including a timeline, links to videos, court papers and other documents.
Katherine Gallagher of CCR, and Jules Lobel, professor at University of Pittsburgh Law School and CCR cooperating attorney, are co-counsel in Mr. Arar's case.
The Center for Constitutional Rights represents other victims of the
Bush administration's programs, from Iraqis tortured and abused at Abu
Ghraib prison to Muslim and Arab men rounded up and abused in
immigration sweeps in the U.S. in the aftermath of 9/11, to Guantanamo
detainees.
Attached Files
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
(212) 614-6464LATEST NEWS
'Just the Beginning': 50+ Arrested for Blockading Citigroup Bank Over Climate Crimes
"Through people-powered resistance, we can give money a conscience and stop Citi's destruction of our planet," said one Indigenous campaigner.
Apr 25, 2024
Twenty more demonstrators were arrested Thursday, the second day of Earth Week protests targeting Citigroup's Manhattan headquarters in what organizers called "the beginning of a wave of direct actions to take place over the summer targeting big banks for creating climate chaos that is killing our communities and our planet."
Protest organizers—who include Climate Defenders, New York Communities for Change, Planet over Profit, and Stop the Money Pipeline—said 53 activists were arrested over two days of demonstrations, which included blocking the entrance to Citigroup's headquarters, to "demand that the bank stop funding fossil fuels."
Organizers said this week's demonstrations "were just the beginning" of what they're calling a "Summer of Heat" targeting big banks for their role in the climate emergency and for "polluting our land, air, and water, and threatening the health of children, families, and our planet." Citigroup is the world's second-largest fossil fuel financier.
"We're holding Citi accountable for financing dirty fossil fuels from Canada to Latin America and beyond," said Chief Na'moks of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, one of several Indigenous leaders who took part in the action. "Through people-powered resistance, we can give money a conscience and stop Citi's destruction of our planet."
Jonathan Westin, executive director of Climate Defenders, asserted that "Citigroup's racist funding of oil, coal, and gas is creating climate chaos that's devastating communities of color across the country."
"We're taking action to tell Citi that we won't put up with their environmental racism for one more day," Westin continued. "Our communities have reached the boiling point. Our children have asthma, our city's sky was orange, and our air polluted because of the climate crisis caused by Citi and Wall Street."
"We're going to keep organizing and taking direct action until Citi listens to us," he vowed.
Stop the Money Pipeline co-director Alec Connon said: "To have any chance of reigning in the climate crisis, we must stop investing in fossil fuel expansion. Yet, Citibank is pumping billions of dollars into new coal, oil, and gas projects."
"We're here to make it clear: If they're going to fund the companies disrupting our climate and our lives, we're going to disrupt their business," Connon added.
Activists have repeatedly targeted Citigroup in recent years as the megabank has pumped more than $300 billion into fossil fuel investments around the world since the Paris climate agreement.
According to the protest organizers:
Citi has provided $668 million in funding to Formosa Plastics between 2001-2021, which is trying to build a $9.4 billion plastics facility in a majority Black community in the heart of Cancer Alley in Louisiana.
Citigroup is also one of the biggest funders of state-run oil and gas companies in the Amazon basin, pumping in over $40 billion between 2016-2020, and a major backer of Petroperú, which has been involved in oil spills and Indigenous rights violations.
"From wildfires, heatwaves, and floods to deadly air pollution and mass drought, Citi's fossil fuel financing is killing us," said Alice Hu of New York Communities for Change. "We've sent polite petitions and had pleading meetings with bank representatives, but Citi refuses to stop pouring billions each year into coal, oil, and gas."
"That's why we're fighting for our lives now with the best tool we have left: mass, nonviolent disruptive civil disobedience," Hu added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
No Outside Probe, US Reiterates as Gazans Reportedly Buried Alive in Mass Grave
"How does it ever make sense that the United States asks the accused party to examine itself?" asked one incredulous reporter.
Apr 25, 2024
A Biden administration spokesperson once again brushed off calls for an independent investigation into how hundreds of Palestinians found in mass graves near Gaza hospitals died when asked Thursday about new reports that many of the victims were tortured, summarily executed—and in some cases, buried alive by Israeli invaders.
During a Thursday U.S. State Department press conference in Washington, D.C., a reporter noted Gaza officials' claim that mass grave victims "including children were tortured before being killed" and that "some even showed signs of being buried alive, along with other crimes against humanity."
"What's wrong with an independent, scientific, forensic investigation?"
Noting calls by Palestinian officials and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk for an independent probe into mass graves, the reporter said that "this administration repeatedly said that it asks... the Israeli government to investigate itself."
"How does it ever make sense that the United States asks the accused party to examine itself and provide reports that you have previously said that you actually trust?" the reporter asked State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel. "What's wrong with an independent, scientific, forensic investigation?"
Patel replied: "We continue to find these reports incredibly troubling. And that's why yesterday you saw the national security adviser for this to be thoroughly investigated."
While National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday called reports of mass grave atrocities "deeply disturbing" and said that "we want answers" from Israel, he did not call for an independent investigation.
When the reporter pressed Patel on the legitimacy of asking Israel to investigate itself, Patel said, "we believe that through a thorough investigation we can get some additional answers."
Thursday's exchange followed a similar back-and-forth on Tuesday between Patel and Said Arikat, a journalist for the Jerusalem-based
Palestinian news outlet al-Quds who asked about the mass graves.
At least 392 bodies—including numerous women and children—have been found in mass graves outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where Palestinian Civil Defense and other workers have been exhuming victims for nearly a week. Officials believe there are as many as 700 bodies in three separate mass graves.
Based on more recent exhumations, local Civil Defense chief Yamen Abu Sulaiman said during a Wednesday press conference that "we believe that the occupation buried alive at least 20 people at the Nasser Medical Complex."
"There are cases of field execution of some patients while undergoing surgeries and wearing surgical gowns," he stated, adding that some victims showed signs of torture and 10 bodies had medical tubes attached to them.
Gaza Civil Defense official Mohammed Mughier told reporters that "we need forensic examination" to definitively determine the causes of death for the 20 people believed to have been buried alive.
Previous reporting on the mass graves quoted rescue workers who said they found people who were apparently executed while their hands were bound, with some victims missing heads, skin, and internal organs.
Other mass graves have been found in Gaza, most notably on the grounds of al-Shifa Hospital, where Israeli forces last month committed what the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called "one of the largest massacres in Palestinian history."
It's also not the first time there have been reports of Israeli troops burying victims alive during the current war, in which Palestinian and international officials say Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 122,000 Gazans, including at least 11,000 people who are missing and feared dead. Israeli forces attacking Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia last December reportedly bulldozed and buried alive dozens of injured patients and displaced people.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Columbia Students File Civil Rights Complaint After Arrests, National Guard Threat
"The violent repression we're facing as peaceful anti-war protesters is appalling."
Apr 25, 2024
A day after Columbia University officials warned it may call on the National Guard to remove nonviolent student protesters who have been occupying campus lawns since last week in solidarity with Gaza, advocacy group Palestine Legal on Thursday filed a federal civil rights complaint demanding an investigation into the school's "discriminatory treatment of Palestinian students and their allies."
The school discriminated against pro-Palestinian protesters last week when President Minouche Shafik summoned New York Police Department officers in riot gear to arrest more than 100 students, said Palestine Legal.
The complaint details how the escalation against students, who have set up an encampment on campus to demand Columbia divest from companies that work with the Israeli government and to support calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, is part of a monthslong pattern of the university's targeting of pro-Palestinian students.
According to Palestine Legal, students of all backgrounds who have demanded an end to Israel's U.S.-backed massacre of Palestinians in Gaza "have been the target of extreme anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic harassment, including receiving multiple death threats, being harassed for wearing keffiyehs or hijab, doxxed, stereotyped, being treated differently by high-ranking administrators including... Shafik, an attack with a chemical agent that led to at least 10 students requiring hospitalization and dozens of others, including a Palestinian student, seeking medical attention, and more."
Columbia student Maryam Alwan, who Palestine Legal is representing in the complaint to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, said the university has "utterly failed to protect [her] from racism and abuse."
"Beyond that, the university has also played a role in this repression by having me arrested and suspended for peacefully protesting Israel's genocide in Gaza," said Alwan. "The violent repression we're facing as peaceful anti-war protesters is appalling. Palestinian students at Columbia deserve justice and accountability, not only for Israel's decadeslong oppression and violence against our people, but for the racism and discrimination we've experienced here on Columbia's campus."
Palestine Legal is representing four students in the case, as well as Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, which was suspended from the campus late last year after holding anti-war protests.
The group called Columbia's threat to call in the National Guard "gravely concerning."
"Columbia's vicious crackdown on student protests calling for Palestinian freedom amidst an ongoing genocide should alarm us all. Students have always been at the forefront of the most pressing social issues of the day," said Palestine Legal staff attorney Sabiya Ahamed.
College campuses have been the sites of frequent pro-Palestinian protests since October, and the NYPD's crackdown on Columbia students last week galvanized students at universities across the country.
The Biden administration has said little about the student demonstrations, but President Joe Biden referred to them broadly as "antisemitic protests" this week.
"We urge federal civil rights officials to do what Columbia has disgracefully failed to," said Ahamed. "Ensure the rights of Palestinian and allied students are protected at a moment when their voices are most essential."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular