Pacific Views

Arar to sue Ashcroft.

Lawyers for Maher Arar — the Canadian man that US authorities deported to Syria — will file a lawsuit against US attorney general John Ashcroft tomorrow (Thursday). The lawsuit is being filed on Arar's behalf by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights.

Although a Canadian citizen, Arar was born in Syria and immigrated to Canada 15 years ago, when he was 17 years old. His problems with the US began when he was returning to Montreal from a visit to Tunisia in 2002. He had to switch planes in New York, but instead of being able to board a plane to Canada, Arar was detained by US immigration officials who maintained that he had connections to al-Qaeda. Despite the lack of any formal charges, and despite Arar's Canadian citizenship, he was deported to Syria 10 days later. He spent 375 days in a Syrian jail, where he says that he was tortured. Arar has steadfastly denied any terrorist connections and, in fact, has not been charged with a crime in any country.

While Arar's case has gotten little notice in the US, it's a major political issue in Canada. Besides the expected lawsuit against Ashcroft, he has filed suits against Syria and Jordan (whose officials allegedly beat Arar before handing him over to the Syrians).

Katherine at Obsidian Wings has written a series of posts on Arar's situation. You can find them all here.

Via Toronto Star.