Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

October 12, 2008 4:05:30 AM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

Rendition Victim Loses US Torture Appeal

Posted Jul 1, 08 7:56 AM CDT in US,  Crime & Courts,  World 

(Newser) – A Canadian software engineer has lost an appeal against the US for his torture in Syria on a technicality, Reuters reports. Syrian-born Maher Arar, whose story inspired the Hollywood movie Rendition, was forced off a flight in New York in 2002 and shipped to Syria, where he says he was tortured for more than a year.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Arar failed to establish that a US court had the right to hear his case because he's an alien who never technically entered American jurisdiction. Arar's attorney blasted the decision, which he said allowed the use of the immigration process as a "guise to send someone to be tortured." The case has rattled US-Canadian relations. Condoleezza Rice has admitted the US mishandled the case—but hasn't apologized.

Source Reuters

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Video Links North Korea to Syrian Reactor

    Apr 24, 08 4:58 AM CDT
    Video showing a nuclear reactor under construction in Syria is expected to be released today by the White House, the New York Times reports. The video, shot before the reactor was obliterated by Israeli air strikes, confirms that Syrians had North Korean technological help. The design is similar to one used by North Korea to create weapons-grade plutonium. More »

  • China Off US Rights Blacklist

    Mar 12, 08 10:26 AM CDT
    China Off US Rights Blacklist The State Department has taken China off its list of the world's 10 worst human rights abusers, the New York Times reports. China's human rights record "remained poor," the department's annual report said, with abuses including "extrajudicial killings, torture, and coerced confessions of prisoners." Officials declined to explain why the country was dropped from the list or whether it had anything to do with the Beijing Olympics. More »

  • UK Questions Mount Over US 'Torture Flights'

    Mar 10, 08 10:01 AM CDT
    UK Questions Mount Over US 'Torture Flights' Amid pressure British officials said yesterday that they were “working behind the scenes” to root out more information about the CIA rendition flights that landed on British soil, the Guardian reports. The UN’s special torture investigator has said there is credible evidence to suggest that the US ran a detention center on the British territory of Diego Garcia, rather than simply refueling planes there. More »

  • CIA: Rendition Flights Landed in UK Territory

    Feb 21, 08 2:17 PM CST
    CIA: Rendition Flights Landed in UK Territory Two US flights carrying terror suspects for interrogation abroad—a practice known as extraordinary rendition—landed on British territory in 2002, confirmed CIA Director Michael Hayden today. Though the UK previously denied such landings, Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted planes refueled on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, reports the BBC, a fact revealed in a recent search of US records. More »

  • Judge Blocks Terror Kidnap Suit Against Boeing

    Feb 14, 08 5:11 AM CST
    A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that charged a flight-planning company owned by Boeing with helping the CIA fly terror suspects to secret overseas dungeons. He ruled such a case could reveal state secrets, and that "proceeding would jeopardize national security and foreign relations," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of five foreign nationals who say they were kidnapped by the CIA and flown to secret prisons where they were tortured. More »

Maher Arar talks with reporters in Ottawa last year. Canada formally asked the Bush administration to remove torture victim Arar from any lists that would prevent him from flying to the US.   (AP Photo/Tom Hanson, The Canadian Press)
Syrian-Canadian Arar Mahar testifies via video conference at a House Joint Oversight Hearing last year on his experiences being arrested by US officials and shipped to Syria, where he was tortured.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Maher Arar listens to a question in Ottawa ilast year at a hearing.   (AP Photo)
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reads a statement concerning Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's comments that the deportation of Canadian engineer Maher Arar was not handled properly.   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Tom Hanson)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (
1
 of 1)

Tags

Condoleezza Rice  • Canada  • torture  • Syria  • rendition


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other World Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »