Ooops. Really Sorry about the Torture
An official Canadian inquiry that concluded today reports that, in the fall of 2002, Canadian police wrongly fingered Ottawa software engineer, Maher Arar, as an Islamic extremist. The unfiltered and faulty Canadian info, in turn caused U.S. agents to arrest Arar in New York City, then deport him to Syria, where for 12 months he was repeatedly tortured. As for the US agencies that actually did the deporting et al., they “declined to be questioned” by Judge Dennis O'Connor, the man who led the Canadian investigation, writes Reuters.
DOUG STRUCK of the Washington Post has more about Arar's encounter with the US policy of "extraordinary rendition"---including Arar's beating-forced and false "confession," and his 10-month ordeal in "a coffin-size dungeon."