Canadian Falsely Accused Of Terrorism

(CBS/AP)  A software engineer falsely accused of being a terrorist by Canadian police was shipped to Syria by the United States, where he was imprisoned and tortured, according to a Canadian commission.

The 2 1/2-year commission of inquiry into the case of Syrian-born Maher Arar exonerated him of all suspicion of terrorist activity and urged the Canadian government to pay compensation.

"They arrested me. They never told me what they had against me," Arar tells CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian. "I was a disappeared person. My family did not know where I was. I knew I was sent to Syria to be tortured."

Arar is perhaps the world's best known victim of extraordinary rendition — or the U.S. transfer of foreign terror suspects to third countries without court approval.

The Washington Post reported that since Sept. 11, the CIA has captured about 3,000 suspected terrorists. Many, the newspaper said, were secretly shipped to other countries, where they were often tortured.

But former counterterrorism official and CBS News consultant John Brennan says rendition does have its place.

"I think it allows us to have the option to move a person, who was involved in terrorism or terrorism-related activities to a country where they can be effectively questioned or prosecuted," Brennan tells Keteyian.

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Watch more of Keteyian's interview with Arar
Read the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar

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"I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offense or that his activities constitute a threat to the security of Canada," Commissioner Dennis O'Connor said in a three-volume report on the inquiry's findings, only part of which was made public.

Arar was traveling on a Canadian passport when he was detained at New York's Kennedy Airport on Sept. 26, 2002, during a stopover on his way home to Canada from vacation in Tunisia.

Arar said U.S. authorities sent him to Syria for interrogation as a suspected al Qaeda member, an allegation he denied.

He spent nearly a year in prison in Syria. After his release in 2003, Arar made detailed allegations about extensive interrogation, beatings and whippings with electrical cable in Syrian prison cells.

Beyond beatings with a two-inch cable - a charge denied by Syria - Arar told CBS News he was held in a 6-foot underground cell, which he calls a "grave."

"This underground cell ended up being my home for the next 10 months and 10 days," he said.

In 2005, Arar spoke with 60 Minutes II's Vicki Mabrey about his "year in hell.". He also detailed his experience in a 2004 interview.

Justice O'Connor also criticized the U.S. and recommended that Ottawa file formal protests with both Washington and the Syrian government over Arar's treatment.

"They removed him to Syria against his wishes and in the face of his statements that he would be tortured if sent there. Moreover, they dealt with Canadian officials involved with Mr. Arar's case in a less than forthcoming manner," O'Connor wrote.

The U.S. already faces intense criticism from human rights groups over the practice of taking suspects to countries where they could be tortured.

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[davelyoung1]

Congress needs to invite Mr. Arar to speak out under oath, but escort him with Congressional guards and protections, so he does not get deported to somewhere else. Maybe they can ask Canada's help on this.

[davelyoung1]

America is this one of Bush%u2019s secret prison locations?
Run clandestinely by the CIA White House police.
Is this why he is fighting Geneva Convention rights,
Saying humanity must have divine dignity treatment?
Mr. Bush are your prisons, inside the axis of evil?

RonnieHM wrote:

"Syria has never cooperated with us on anything, much less the war on terror..."

Really? Because just a few days ago, Syria spoiled a terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Syria. Bush's gov even thanked Syria.

Bush has closer ties to Syria then he'd like you to think he has.

[whatiyam]

where did they get that news analyst Brennan that thinks you get good information from torture? or maybe he just likes the idea of torture even though it is worthless in terms of intelligence. In WWII we didn't torture, now we need it. well then others will torture our soldiers when they capture them.

[searingtruth]

"... Syria has never cooperated with us on anything ..."
RonnieHM

Hee hee.

Can you spell O-I-L.

And, of course, torture.
T-O-R-T-U-R-E


"We have become the evil we fought."
SearingTruth

Freedom Clock - www.searingtruth.com

[ronniehm]

This guy's story is fishy. Syria has never cooperated with us on anything, much less the war on terror, and CBS's implication that there's a CIA secret prison in Syria is absurd. I know some of you people hate Bush, but this one is a stretch.

[davelyoung1]

With the United States handing over a Canadian citizen to Syrian agents claimed as the axis of evil, I wonder if the United States has a secret prison there for interogation. This is a strange bedfellow for the war against terrorism.

[searingtruth]

It's not "You have nothing to fear unless you're doing something wrong."
It's "You have nothing to fear unless the government is doing something wrong."
SearingTruth

"The smell of torture, the smell of death, the smell of fear ... the smell of Republican America."
SearingTruth

"It is an old tale. Catastrophe assaults the senses of a free nation. Fear, a tyrant's only ally, is seized. Democracy, a despot's greatest foe, is assaulted. The people, liberties only defense, are subdued. All in accomplice of those sworn, upon death, to protect them."
SearingTruth

"And then there was the President Who Cried Wolf, five hundred times."
SearingTruth

"When everything is secret, everything is legal."
SearingTruth

"History does not record a government of the people assured in secret."
SearingTruth

"Once again, here's how it goes. First, a tyrant 'suspends' just a 'little' liberty, to protect democracy. Then, a tyrant monitors everyone, everywhere, all the time, to assure freedom. Finally, a tyrant imprisons or executes all those observed in abeyance of authority, to uphold liberty. No step may proceed without the other, the accomplice of a complacent people, and the corruption of a civil state."
SearingTruth

"We have become the evil we fought."
SearingTruth

Freedom Clock - www.searingtruth.com

[babus2]

Torture has not solved anything, but has made things worse. It is time we try something different. Maybe kindness, listening, respect and understanding would be more fruitful.
r

[mwe3wm]

I want to thank CBS for this forum.

Have you seen the way Attorney General Gonzales and President Bush smirk when they tell us something they don't really believe. The latest is when Gonzales said he did not know of any reports that Mr. Arar was tortured.

I don't think either one would be very good at poker.

Michael Edwards
Texas