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RENDITION PROSECUTED ABROAD WHILE U.S. COURTS DO NOTHING
By Mary Shaw
Online Journal
Nov 10, 2009, 00:10
The George W. Bush administration was the target of much criticism
from human rights groups for, among other things, its policy of
extraordinary rendition, in which detainees have been transferred
for interrogation in other countries that are known for their use of
torture. And human rights groups and individuals have long been calling
for an end to rendition, and accountability for all those who have
enabled or participated in the use of torture in the "war on terror."
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any kind of accountability will
be achieved here in the U.S. anytime soon. The latest evidence of
this came on November 2, when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals
dismissed the case of Maher Arar against U.S. officials who had sent
him to Syria, where he was interrogated under torture for a year.
Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was detained at JFK Airport in
September of 2002 while on his way home to Canada from a vacation.
After his rendition to Syria and all the torture and abuse, Arar was
eventually released, with the Syrian government stating that they
had found no connection to any criminal or terrorist organization
or activity.
Still, that Court of Appeals apparently believes that the U.S. should
not be held accountable for violating international law by putting
Arar through that abuse. The court cited the Bush administration's
favorite excuse -- state secrets. Case dismissed. God bless America.
Maria LaHood, senior staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional
Rights (CCR), who represented Arar, aptly summed up the implications
of the decision as follows: "With this decision, we have lost much
more than Maher Arar's case against torture -- we have lost the rule
of law, the moral high ground, our independent judiciary, and our
commitment to the Constitution of the United States."
Indeed.
The only voice of reason out of the Second Circuit Court was in a
dissent by Judge Guido Calabresi: "I believe that when the history
of this distinguished court is written, today's majority decision
will be viewed with dismay."
If it's not ultimately viewed with dismay, then this nation really
has sold its soul to the Torture Industrial Complex.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is not going to wait around for us
to get our act together.
On November 4, an Italian judge convicted 23 Americans, most of them
CIA operatives, for the abduction and rendition of Muslim cleric
Abu Omar, who was captured in Milan in 2003. One of the defendants,
a CIA base chief, received an eight-year sentence, while the others
were sentenced to five years each.
The defendants were all tried in absentia and are considered fugitives.
And while it's unlikely that any of those 23 Americans will ever see
the inside of an Italian prison cell, the Italian court's decision
makes a statement to the U.S. and to the world: that laws were broken
and accountability is crucial in a world that respects the rule of law.
Tom Parker, Amnesty International's policy director for
counterterrorism and human rights, had this to say: "The United
States shouldn't need a foreign court to distinguish right from
wrong. The Obama administration must repudiate the unlawful practice
of extraordinary rendition -- and hold accountable those responsible
for having put this system in place -- or his administration will
end up as tarnished as his predecessor's."
I agree. The world agrees. But the rendition program continues
under Obama.
Obama talks about human rights. But talk -- even Obama's fancy variety
-- is cheap. Continuing the practice of rendition is not change I
can believe in. In fact, it is no change at all.
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a
focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former
Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights
group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a
variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas
expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with
which she may be associated. E-mail: [email protected].
By Mary Shaw
Online Journal
Nov 10, 2009, 00:10
The George W. Bush administration was the target of much criticism
from human rights groups for, among other things, its policy of
extraordinary rendition, in which detainees have been transferred
for interrogation in other countries that are known for their use of
torture. And human rights groups and individuals have long been calling
for an end to rendition, and accountability for all those who have
enabled or participated in the use of torture in the "war on terror."
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any kind of accountability will
be achieved here in the U.S. anytime soon. The latest evidence of
this came on November 2, when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals
dismissed the case of Maher Arar against U.S. officials who had sent
him to Syria, where he was interrogated under torture for a year.
Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was detained at JFK Airport in
September of 2002 while on his way home to Canada from a vacation.
After his rendition to Syria and all the torture and abuse, Arar was
eventually released, with the Syrian government stating that they
had found no connection to any criminal or terrorist organization
or activity.
Still, that Court of Appeals apparently believes that the U.S. should
not be held accountable for violating international law by putting
Arar through that abuse. The court cited the Bush administration's
favorite excuse -- state secrets. Case dismissed. God bless America.
Maria LaHood, senior staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional
Rights (CCR), who represented Arar, aptly summed up the implications
of the decision as follows: "With this decision, we have lost much
more than Maher Arar's case against torture -- we have lost the rule
of law, the moral high ground, our independent judiciary, and our
commitment to the Constitution of the United States."
Indeed.
The only voice of reason out of the Second Circuit Court was in a
dissent by Judge Guido Calabresi: "I believe that when the history
of this distinguished court is written, today's majority decision
will be viewed with dismay."
If it's not ultimately viewed with dismay, then this nation really
has sold its soul to the Torture Industrial Complex.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is not going to wait around for us
to get our act together.
On November 4, an Italian judge convicted 23 Americans, most of them
CIA operatives, for the abduction and rendition of Muslim cleric
Abu Omar, who was captured in Milan in 2003. One of the defendants,
a CIA base chief, received an eight-year sentence, while the others
were sentenced to five years each.
The defendants were all tried in absentia and are considered fugitives.
And while it's unlikely that any of those 23 Americans will ever see
the inside of an Italian prison cell, the Italian court's decision
makes a statement to the U.S. and to the world: that laws were broken
and accountability is crucial in a world that respects the rule of law.
Tom Parker, Amnesty International's policy director for
counterterrorism and human rights, had this to say: "The United
States shouldn't need a foreign court to distinguish right from
wrong. The Obama administration must repudiate the unlawful practice
of extraordinary rendition -- and hold accountable those responsible
for having put this system in place -- or his administration will
end up as tarnished as his predecessor's."
I agree. The world agrees. But the rendition program continues
under Obama.
Obama talks about human rights. But talk -- even Obama's fancy variety
-- is cheap. Continuing the practice of rendition is not change I
can believe in. In fact, it is no change at all.
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a
focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former
Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights
group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a
variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas
expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with
which she may be associated. E-mail: [email protected].