Ellipsis
26 Jan 2007, 11:37 PM
Most of the Canadians have probably heard about this case since it has been on the news but man Americans may have not.
Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria in 1970, came to Canada in 1987. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in computer engineering, Arar worked in Ottawa as a telecommunications engineer.
On a stopover in New York as he was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia in September 2002, U.S. officials detained Arar, claiming he has links to al-Qaeda, and deported him to Syria, even though he was carrying a Canadian passport.
When Arar returned to Canada more than a year later, he said he had been tortured during his incarceration and accused American officials of sending him to Syria knowing that they practise torture.
His wife Monia Mazigh has a PhD in financial economics and ran for the NDP in the 2004 federal election in the riding of Ottawa South. She lost. Arar and Mazigh have two young children. In the summer of 2006, the family relocated to Kamloops, B.C., where Mazigh took a teaching position at Thompson Rivers University.
Arar and his family are seeking compensation from the federal government for his abrupt deportation and imprisonment in Syria. Judge Dennis O'Connor, who conducted the inquiry into the matter, recommended in his report dated Sept. 18, 2006 that Ottawa pay up.
Anyway today was the day that the government(Canadian that is) paid up full time line can be seen here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/
As well the full story can be seen here as well: http://www.maherarar.ca/
Several things in addition to the Canadian apology have happened in the last several days as well: The US government has claimed that it is " more informed" on the threat of Arar but has done nothing to detain him-which is strange because if Arar was any threat they would be demanding that he be put away(As we speak the Us is hunting down terrorists in far off countries). The American ambassador to Canada has said that the US has the right to keep anyone out of their nation whenever they feel like it. (Imagine being told for no good reason you can not visit the US except for the fact that you are a man who has unrightfully been punished by that nation...seems very strange).
This case and it's results seem to really trouble me for the many things they imply about the nature of the US today...perhaps more then Iraq. (It's really the same thing: we know more then you.)
Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria in 1970, came to Canada in 1987. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in computer engineering, Arar worked in Ottawa as a telecommunications engineer.
On a stopover in New York as he was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia in September 2002, U.S. officials detained Arar, claiming he has links to al-Qaeda, and deported him to Syria, even though he was carrying a Canadian passport.
When Arar returned to Canada more than a year later, he said he had been tortured during his incarceration and accused American officials of sending him to Syria knowing that they practise torture.
His wife Monia Mazigh has a PhD in financial economics and ran for the NDP in the 2004 federal election in the riding of Ottawa South. She lost. Arar and Mazigh have two young children. In the summer of 2006, the family relocated to Kamloops, B.C., where Mazigh took a teaching position at Thompson Rivers University.
Arar and his family are seeking compensation from the federal government for his abrupt deportation and imprisonment in Syria. Judge Dennis O'Connor, who conducted the inquiry into the matter, recommended in his report dated Sept. 18, 2006 that Ottawa pay up.
Anyway today was the day that the government(Canadian that is) paid up full time line can be seen here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/
As well the full story can be seen here as well: http://www.maherarar.ca/
Several things in addition to the Canadian apology have happened in the last several days as well: The US government has claimed that it is " more informed" on the threat of Arar but has done nothing to detain him-which is strange because if Arar was any threat they would be demanding that he be put away(As we speak the Us is hunting down terrorists in far off countries). The American ambassador to Canada has said that the US has the right to keep anyone out of their nation whenever they feel like it. (Imagine being told for no good reason you can not visit the US except for the fact that you are a man who has unrightfully been punished by that nation...seems very strange).
This case and it's results seem to really trouble me for the many things they imply about the nature of the US today...perhaps more then Iraq. (It's really the same thing: we know more then you.)