US rejects probe into Canadian's rendition

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said on July 23 he had rejected a request from lawmakers that an outside special counsel investigate the case of a Canadian taken off a plane in New York and sent to Syria, where he says he was tortured. Mukasey said under questioning at a House Judiciary Committee hearing that he did not believe that a special counsel was warranted "at this time." Maher Arar, a Syrian-born software engineer, was taken into custody by US officials during a 2002 stopover in New York while on his way home to Canada and then deported to Syria because he was mistakenly linked to al-Qaida. Arar says he was imprisoned in Syria for a year and tortured. Three committee Democrats sent a letter on July 10 asking Mukasey to appoint an outside special counsel to investigate and prosecute any violations of federal criminal laws. They had said a special counsel would ensure the investigation is thorough, impartial and independent, and would show the US government was willing to conduct a fair investigation into serious allegations of wrongdoing. Two lawmakers who sought the outside investigation, including committee chairman Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, criticized Mukasey's decision. Conyers said Mukasey had continued the "unfortunate tradition" of refusing to appoint a special counsel not only in the Arar case, but also for President Bush's warrantless surveillance program and for the CIA's use of waterboarding for terrorism suspects. Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA) cited testimony last month that US officials may have sent Arar to Syria, rather than Canada, because they knew of the likelihood of torture. "If that doesn't trigger need for a special prosecutor, I can't imagine what would," he said. Maria LaHood, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, which represents Arar in the United States, replied, "Sending Maher to Syria instead of home to Canada was certainly not safer for him, and did nothing to make the United States safer." She said, "The tendency of the Department of Justice to cover up its crimes is exactly why an outside prosecutor is needed." The Canadian government has cleared Arar of any links to terrorist groups, has apologized and has paid him millions of dollars in compensation.