Maher Arar has launched a new on-line magazine promoting critical analysis of national security issues. The goal of the magazine, called Prism, is to address issues outside the focus of mainstream media. Arar has invited several people to contribute including human rights advocates, lawyers and former journalists. Check it out here.
Maher Arar wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his case, saying he has “renewed hope” that lower court rulings will eventually be overturned. Those, he says, “essentially gave the government the green light to continue the abuse of its executive powers in matters related to National Security.” For more, see this news release issued Monday by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights.
Here’s the news release from today’s event in Ottawa. You can check out video of the installation on Canada AM’s web site here.
Ottawa — Three Canadian torture survivors were at a news conference in Ottawa today to unveil an art installation depicting some of the suffering they endured in a Syrian military intelligence detention centre.
Created by Ottawa artist Jenn Farr and builder Erik Windfeld, “El Abbar” (the grave) is a life-size replica of one of the underground, tiny, dark cells at the now infamous Far’ Falastin (Palestine Branch) Syrian detention centre. Ahmad El Maati was locked into one of these cells for two and a half months before being sent to Egypt. Abdullah Almalki survived one year, three months and twenty-five days in the tiny space. Beside him, Maher Arar was locked up for ten months and ten days. Muayyed Nureddin was locked into an over-crowded “common” cell down the hall.
El Maati, Almalki and Nureddin said they hope the installation will help Canadians, and the government, better understand the horrors of torture.
“I think it is very difficult for anyone to truly comprehend the conditions I was kept in – the loss of control over every aspect of my life, the filth, the smell, the constant sounds of people being tortured, the constant fear that I would be next and the feeling of being buried alive,” said Almalki. “I hope this will at least get people thinking, and better understanding, the horrors of torture.”
More than a year ago the Iacobucci Inquiry’s report confirmed there was Canadian complicity in the torture of Canadians Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin. Last week on December 3, the majority of the House of Commons voted in favour of a report calling for compensation and an apology for the men.
Now news has emerged that efforts at mediating a settlement for the men have collapsed because of a federal government position the men’s counsel say “eliminates any possibility of resolution.”
This Wednesday, December 9, the men will be in Ottawa with me, Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International; and Members of Parliament and Public Safety Committee members Mark Holland, Serge Ménard and Don Davies, for the unveiling of a collaborative art installation depicting some of the suffering they endured.
Created by Ottawa artist Jenn Farr and builder Erik Windfeld, “El Abber” (the grave), is a life-size replica of one of the underground, tiny, dark cells at the now infamous Far Falastin (Palestine Branch) Syrian military intelligence detention centre.
Ahmad El Maati was locked into one of these cells for two and a half months before being sent to Egypt. Abdullah Almalki survived seventeen months in the tiny space. Beside him, Maher Arar was locked up for more than ten months. Muayyed Nureddin was locked into an over-crowded “common” cell down the hall.
The doors open at noon, but be sure to arrive before 12:30, when there will be a news conference during which the men will describe some of their time in the cells.
That’s 12 noon, Wednesday, December 9, at the Old Press Club, 2nd floor, 165 Sparks St. (Booth Building between Bank and O’Connor).
Please join me for the launch of Sheema Khan’s new book, Of Hockey and Hijab, at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, December 7 in the auditorium of the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe St. in Ottawa.
Of Hockey and Hijab is a collection of Sheema Khan’s Globe & Mail columns. She gives her own pointed insights on the condition of being a modern and liberal, yet practising Muslim, especially in Canada. Tackling a host of issues, such as terrorism, human rights, Islamic law, women’s rights, and the meaning of hijab, she explains Islam to the greater public while calling for mutual understanding and tolerance.
I’ll be part of a panel discussion along with author Sheema Khan, Farhat Rehman, a longtime community grassroots activist who has worked extensively with women, and Keith Neuman from the Environics Research Group on integration/multiculturalism. Human rights lawyer Yavar Hameed will be moderating.
The event is being organized by Octopus Books and is sponsored by CAIR-CAN (www.caircan.ca) and Muslim Presence Ottawa (muslimpresence.com).
Despite an attempt by government to shut down debate, the majority of the House of Commons has just voted in favour of compensation and a formal apology for Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin. The vote was on a concurrence motion, moved by NDP MP Don Davies, and supported by all opposition parties, calling on the government to implement recommendations contained in a report by the parliamentary Public Safety Committee.
You can watch the debate on line here (December 3, 2009, HoC Sitting # 123, beginning at 10:00 a.m.).
The report, tabled on June 18, 2009 and debated in the House of Commons today, came out of a study of findings by the Iacobucci Inquiry and findings and recommendations of the Arar Inquiry. (The Iacobucci Inquiry determined that the actions of Canadian officials, such as providing questions and information to Syrian and Egyptian interrogators, likely contributed to the torture of El Maati, Almalki and Nureddin.)
In addition to an apology and compensation, the committee report calls on the government correct misinformation shared about the men with foreign agencies – information containing allegations which retired Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci determined were variously inaccurate, inflammatory, and without evidentiary basis.
The New York Times is blasting the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for ruling against Maher Arar’s right to sue U.S. officials for sending him to Syria to be tortured. The editorial in today’s paper calls on the court to reverse its ruling, saying:
The ruling distorts precedent and the Constitutional separation of powers to deny justice to Mr. Arar and give officials a pass for egregious misconduct. The overt disregard for the central role of judges in policing executive branch excesses has frightening implications for safeguarding civil liberties, as four judges suggested in dissenting opinions.
Maher Arar has again been denied the right to sue the United States for sending him to Syria to be tortured. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against overturning a decision of the U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York, which had dismissed his suit against the officials responsible for his plight, including former attorney-general John Ashcroft and former homeland security secretary Tom Ridge.
The majority, in a 7-4 decision, ruled that Arar did not possess a legal remedy for the violations of his human rights because granting such a remedy would encroach on the powers of the executive branch (in terms of issues dealing with national security issues) and the legislative branch (in terms of the provision of remedies in certain circumstances.
In a statement released through his lawyers, Arar said:
“Unfortunately, this recent decision and decisions taken on other similar cases, prove that the court system in the United States has become more or less a tool that the executive branch can easily manipulate through unfounded allegations and fear mongering….If anything, this decision is a loss to all Americans and to the rule of law.”
The full text of Arar’s statement is available here. The full text of the decision is available in pdf format here. Here are some interesting snippets from the dissenting judges:
CSIS head Richard B. Fadden seems to think that everyone except CSIS – the media, human rights and civil liberties advocates, lawyers and judges – is to blame for public mistrust of intelligence agencies. Such was the thrust of his first public speech since taking up the post of CSIS director, yesterday to the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS) Annual International Conference in Ottawa. Curious, given all we’ve learned about CSIS over the last few years, such as the agency’s role in the overseas detention and torture of Canadians. I think he sounded bitter, condescending, and insensitive (especially when he likened being a terror suspect to being a folk hero), and doubt that his lashing out in this way has helped instill more public faith in CSIS. So NOT the kind of leadership CSIS needs now.
The full text of his speech is below.
It’s been almost three years since the Arar inquiry released its report calling for a new watchdog for the agencies involved in national security investigations, and the government is still saying it needs more time, and wants to wait for the outcome of yet another inquiry — Justice John Major’s Air India Inquiry. The excuse came again in the government’s response to the Commons Public Safety Committee report, which called for implementation of all of the Arar Inquiry’s recommendations without delay.
The government’s response was tabled last week on the one-year anniversary of the release of former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci’s report, which determined that Canadian agencies had contributed to the torture of Ahmad El Maati Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin by sharing unsubstantiated allegations about them with Syrian, Egyptian, U.S. and other agencies. The government says it can’t act now to correct the record because of ongoing litigation — another excuse that has no credibility. Read more in my op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen today.
Sober, well written and horrific. Grit your teeth and read. These are your rights too.
John le Carré
Brilliant.
Robert Fisk, The Independent
Winner of the 2009 Ottawa Book Award for Non-fiction
An Amazon.ca editor's pick for 'Best Books of 2008'
A Quill and Quire 'Book of the Year'
Dark Days is published by Penguin Group (Canada)