[NYTr] Federal Judge Calls Rendition Process "Outsourcing"

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Jane Franklin - Nov 10, 2007

The Center for Constitutional Rights in New York has been fighting for
the rights of Maher Arar (in Arar v. Ashcroft).  This hearing (below)
took place November 9, 2007.  Maher Arar is probably the best example we
have of an innocent person being the victim of U.S. rendition.  While
on the subject, I recommend the movie, "Rendition," for its bravery in
showing a story similar to that of Maher Arar.  "Variety" calls
"Rendition" a "middlebrow stab at political relevance" but it is hardly
"middlebrow" to be the only movie -- as far as I know -- to show U.S.
rendition on multiplex screens all over the country.  I agree with the
New York Daily News critic Jack Mathews that it is "one of the most
important 'message' movies of the year." Jane Franklin
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jbfranklins


The New York Times - November 10, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/world/americas/10arar.html

Federal Judge Calls Rendition Process ‘Outsourcing’

By ALAN FEUER

Calling the process of rendition “outsourcing,” a federal appeals court
judge in New York sharply questioned government lawyers yesterday at a
hearing involving a Syrian-born Canadian detained at Kennedy Airport in
2002 and sent to Syria, where he was held for 10 months.

The man, Maher Arar, received a multimillion-dollar settlement from the
Canadian government this year after it was determined that American
officials removed him from the airport in an act of rendition, under
which terrorism suspects are sent abroad for interrogation in countries
that often practice torture. Mr. Arar said he had been beaten
repeatedly, and the Canadian government apologized to him and his
family for the “terrible ordeal” after an inquiry found that the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police had wrongly told United States agents that he
was suspected of being an extremist.

The judge, Robert D. Sack, was on a three-judge panel of the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals weighing whether to reverse the dismissal of a
civil rights lawsuit filed by Mr. Arar against the United States. The
suit was dismissed last year after a lower court ruled that it had no
authority to review the case because it touched on national security
and foreign relations.

Mr. Arar, a software engineer, was changing planes at the airport, en
route to Canada, when he was detained by federal officials who claimed
he was a member of Al Qaeda. He was flown to Jordan, then taken
overland to Syria. He said he was beaten and forced to make a false
confession before his release in 2003.

Mr. Arar’s lawyers told the court that his lawsuit should be reinstated
because the government had violated his constitutional rights. A
Justice Department lawyer said the Constitution did not apply to
noncitizens who suffered injury abroad.

The appeals court has yet to rule on Mr. Arar’s appeal.