Extraordinary Rendition, not the well written story, or great piece of blogging, but the practice of transporting suspected foreign terrorists, or others suspected of crimes, to other countries for interrogation and imprisonment with the intent of intelligence gathering. Not wanting to poop in our own yard, it’s about taking suspects to facilities maintained by the United States in more torture friendly countries.

On Monday, rejecting a suit in a rendition case , a full appeals court dismissed a lawsuit brought against a former U.S. attorney general by Maher Arar. Arar, a Syrian born Canadian citizen, sought damages for being unlawfully detained by U.S. authorities in New York and then secretly shipped to Syria, where he was imprisoned for a year and tortured.

Mr. Arar was detained at JFK Airport in September 2002 while changing planes on his way home to Canada. He was mistakenly labeled an Islamic extremist by his own country, and then labeled a member of Al Qaeda by the post 9/11 Bush administration and sent, not home to Canada for investigation, but off to Syrian intelligence authorities renowned for torture. He was tortured, interrogated and detained in a tiny underground cell for nearly a year before the Syrian government released him, stating they had found no connection to any criminal or terrorist organization or activity.

Canada has settled with Mr Arar to the tune of almost 9 million dollars. There is really no explanation as to why the United States did not send him back to Canada, his home country, but instead, with no investigation, on to Syria to be interrogated and tortured for a year. But indeed an innocent man was taken away from his family, his life and his country for a year, an innocent man who had no recourse.

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled by a vote of 7 to 4 that Congress could always create a civil damages remedy for harms suffered through rendition. Currently there is no such remedy so Arar is plum out of luck, as you or I would be be should we find ourselves in a similar situtation. In a statement one of the four dissenters, Judge Guido Calabresi wrote, “I believe that when the history of this distinguished court is written, today’s majority decision will be viewed with dismay.”

Arar vs Ashcroft et al (pdf)

I can think of a stronger word than dismay, but for now let’s say this disturbs me and I suffer from “distressed disappointment”.

Ironically, an almost concurrent decision made by the Italian courts sentences 23 CIA agents in an attack on rendition .

Go Figure

Peace