Arar update

by Katherine

Maher Arar remains, officially, too dangerous to fly over U.S. air space.

U.S. officials won't say what the sources of information against him are. I have a guess as to some of them. I've posted it before, but it's not widely known enough, so here's one more vain effort.

Comments

[liberal japonicus]

Does the fact that Arar is Canadian prevent Congress from certain actions? Or more speculatively, does Arar's citizenship give a reason not to demand more explanation?

[Nancy Irving]

Could it maybe be that, if Arar didn't have a motive to blow up a plane over U.S. airspace *before* we had him abducted and tortured, he does now?

[Jesurgislac]

If Mahar Arar were a complete headcase, it's possible he'd choose now to blow up a plane over the US. But he doesn't appear to be.

[Jesurgislac]

curses, unclosed tags....

[liberal japonicus]

I know that was a bit of black humor, but I suspect that the people who are keeping Arar on the list believe (or to them, 'know') that Arar had it in him to do it, it was simply latent. The assumption seems to be that Muslims are set to do this, so we have to cow them into stopping themselves, so Arar is an example. Admitting error means admitting defeat for these folks.

[Ugh]

Does the fact that Arar is Canadian prevent Congress from certain actions?

I don't think so.

Or more speculatively, does Arar's citizenship give a reason not to demand more explanation?

Well, he's not here in the U.S. filing lawsuits and giving press conferences. Plus he doesn't vote. Hopefully Leahy will hold the administration's feet to the fire for as long as possible.

Could it maybe be that, if Arar didn't have a motive to blow up a plane over U.S. airspace *before* we had him abducted and tortured, he does now?

Yep, same goes for those held at Gitmo. This is like the "you can't believe what Padilla says, he's crazy!" argument.

[russell]

Yes, everything did change on 9/11.

The most important change -- a huge portion of the population of the US lost their freaking minds, and still doesn't know where to find them.

Thanks

[Ugh]

Gosh, how did that little Israel bombing of Lebanon turn out? Not so well, it seems.

[Katherine]

lj--I don't think so. I don't think Congress gave a damn until January. Leahy seems to, so we'll see what kind of follow up there is.

[Katherine]

by the way, are people clicking the link?

I have been trying--not primarily on the weblog, in fact primarily outside of it--to get people to write about and ask questions about Almalki and El-Maati for a year. I have gotten absolutely *NOWHERE*. Intensely frustrating, especially given the amount of attention the watch list story is getting it.

Am I crazy to think it's noteworthy that one of the major sources of intelligence against him seems to be confessions that two other Canadian citizens made while being tortured in Damascus? Apparently I am.

[spartikus]

If you've even lost Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, you really are desperate.

However, Mr. Day said last night the letter and the U.S. intelligence dossier on Mr. Arar that it refers to changes nothing, and Canada still believes Mr. Arar is an innocent man who should be taken off any watch list.

In a written statement, Mr. Day said: "While in Washington last week, I apprised American authorities that this information which they had would not alter our position on this matter.

"I have informed the Americans once again that we have removed Mr. Arar and his family from our watch list according to the recommendation of the [Mr. Justice Dennis] O'Connor report and because we do not deem Mr. Arar or his family to be a security risk. I maintain the same position which I clearly articulated in writing to Secretary Chertoff on September 21st, 2006." At that time, Mr. Day urged the Americans to delist Mr. Arar.

[chdb]

(For the Americans and other assorted foreigners who might not know: Stockwell Day is about as far-right as Canada gets. He is a useless asshole ninety-five percent of the time and just a plain old asshole another four percent of the time. And, also, something of a national joke. If he didn't live in backwoods British Columbia he'd never get elected to office.)

[spartikus]

Indeed. He looks good in a wetsuit, though. And by "good" I mean "not good".

[byrningman]

which all just goes to reinforce my suspicion that if you get stuck on some dubious database or list you'll never get off the damn thing. that's why all this fingerprinting, database tomfoolery at airports scare me. i know for a fact from a state department consular official in the Mideast region that their systems are riddled with false positives, and the lists only grow, they never shrink.

[Ugh]

which all just goes to reinforce my suspicion that if you get stuck on some dubious database or list you'll never get off the damn thing.

Of course, no nameless person deep in the bowels of the TSA, DHS or whatever Orwellian gov't agency runs these things is going to risk his/her neck by taking someone off the list. What if that a person with that name turns out to really be a terrorist and commits some future act that might get me fired!!!!!1!! Call it the none-percent doctrine.

[5th of November]

Arar faces yet another unconstitutional infringment on his rights. Add it to the list of gov't actions which rountinely violate our Constitutional rights.
They violate the 1st Amendment by opening mail, caging demonstrators and banning books like "America Deceived" from Amazon.
They violate the 2nd Amendment by confiscating guns during Katrina.
They violate the 4th Amendment by conducting warrant-less wiretaps.
They violate the 5th and 6th Amendment by suspending habeas corpus.
They violate the 8th Amendment by torturing.
They violate the entire Constitution by starting 2 illegal wars based on lies and on behalf of a foriegn gov't.
Support indy media.
Last link (unless Google Books caves to the gov't and drops the title):
America Deceived (book)

[dmbeaster]

Am I crazy to think it's noteworthy that one of the major sources of intelligence against him seems to be confessions that two other Canadian citizens made while being tortured in Damascus?

Even worse, it is "coerced hearsay testimony" that would be admissible against Arar under the eref=rss_topstoriesnew detainee trial guidelines if he were in Gitmo. In this day and age, some in this country seem to believe that such evidence is proper and useful.

And they are sick. Keep beating the drum.

[Katherine]

Yup. And remember, those procedures are *better* than the ones that most prisoners get.

[Jesurgislac]

that's why all this fingerprinting, database tomfoolery at airports scare me.

That's why I never want to go back to the US so long as these procedures are in force. I am not on the US-Visit database - my last visit to the US was in spring 2004 - and I never want to be.

[Debra Mervant]

Jesurgislac, it's comforting to know that it's not just me who gets all queasy about the idea of returning to the old mother country these days. Maybe after the next (presidential) election ?
Katherine, has Amnesty International initiated action on these cases ? I seem to remember getting stuff about Gitmo detainees a while ago.

[dutchmarbel]

I used to visit the US regularly though not yearly, but I'm not going in the near future due to the privacy infringements and database listings - and I'm not the only one.

Our newspaper had an article the other day about international companies having difficulty with meetings in the US...

[Prodigal]

Maher Arar remains, officially, too dangerous to fly over U.S. air space.

That'll teach him to post that "I KISS YOU!!!" website a few years back...

[Jesurgislac]

Debra, I only visited the US for holidays or for cheaper connecting flights (I have relatives in Canada) so I can afford to say I'll never do it so long as the US is treating all foreign visitors as potential criminals. (I have no idea if a change in administration will make all that much difference: in my experience, once a country starts instituting these kind of border measures, they usually stay instituted.)

[spartikus]

U.S. envoy slams Arar efforts

Mr. Wilkins says Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day is off side with his efforts and should back off because a U.S. review determined Mr. Arar should remain on the watch list.

“It's a little presumptuous of him to say who the United States can and cannot allow into our country,” the ambassador told a news conference Wednesday after a brief meeting with Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach.

Dear Ambassador Wilkins,

It's a little presumptuous of the the United States to send Canadian citizens off to be tortured.

Screw off.

Sincerely,

spartikus

[Katherine]

Good thing Judge Trager threw out his lawsuit! Might have created awkward tensions with Canada. Can't have that.

[Ugh]

Good thing Judge Trager threw out his lawsuit! Might have created awkward tensions with Canada. Can't have that.

Yeah, that I never got. Was there actually a decided case directly on point for that decision, or was it derivative of something else (I think I read the opinion but don't recall off the top of my head)?

[spartikus]

The Conservative government likes to advertise it's "better relations" with the United States than the previous Liberal government.

Wilkins comments will serve as a stark reminder to the Canadian electorate that "better relations" with Washington is meaningless.

[spartikus]

Prime Minister Harper will formally apologise to Maher Arar later today, and the government will provide him a cash settlement.

But apparently there will be some fireworks at the press conference too.

"The prime minister, I'm told, is going to come out all guns blazing. He is furious that U.S. ambassador David Wilkins said that Canada had no business telling them to get Mr. Arar off the list," Fife reported.

"His view is that if it was an American who was falsely accused and put on a watch list, they would move heaven and earth to get them off. ... Perhaps he will even offer some legal assistance to Mr. Arar who wants to get his name off the list."

On Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to Canada blasted Ottawa's efforts to have Arar removed the list, saying the public safety minister is "presumptuous" if he thinks he has a say in the matter.

I really have no idea what Wilkins was trying to do. What purpose was served?

[Michel Lauzon]

I am a 50 years old Canadian electronic engineer interested in politics especially undercover.

Maher Arar is a telecom expert right ?

All telecoms in Canada are copied to the USA, funneled by the NSA, cleaned and delivered to the CIA.

We even pay $5 giga per year to our own secret services to provide the USA with all the information they need to jam our government. Voting here does not mean anything now. Nobody want's the war but my deputy votes for it.

The USA want gas so Alberta is becoming one of the worst polluters on earth. You need electricity ? GE tries to install huge turbines with the exhaust straight toward Montreal downtown.

For the CIA, the DOC or the Pentagone we are meat.

The CIA wants to develop mind control and fancy psychological tortures ? No problem, they gave free hospital customers, space, tools and staff to Dr Cameron, a CIA psychiatrist and he worked within the McGill University infrastructure. Lobotomy, drugs, LSD, a gun, a helment with repeated sentences during 72 hours deprived of everything ... whatever this mad evil guy could come up with!

Some survivors are suing the Canadian governement and will win. Suing the USA is impossible.

Even our environmental readings are cheated so that we will not realise that the pH comes from your coal.

Being from Quebec and french makes you subject to even more injustice. The interest is to keep a Canadian slave and helping the fight within Canada between french and english and indians is also used daily.

We do not control our mounted police, the RCMP either. The scandal over Mr Arar case forced the Director of the RCMP to loose is job !

Arar negociated 10 Millions so fast it was amaizing how evident deciders wanted to minimize the exposure to what it hides.

The judge said the federal police created evidences, lied to politicians and journalist etc.

The real scandal is ECHELON and the fact that our police, our politicians, our governements are controlled by the CIA and the Pentagone.

We Canadians are sub-humans. A very popular french song says "God is an American".

We know though that the american public is ok. The ones doing this shit are all paid to do it. But they are killing your image, your reputation.

Soon people will applaude if we throw rocks on your boats here :)

So please put pressure on your elected reps.