US reopens probe of Canadian man's rendition to Syria

The Bush administration is reopening a probe into the rendition of Canadian citizen Maher Arar amid calls by Democrats for a special investigation to determine if the US government broke any laws in its decision to send the Canadian to Syria. Richard Skinner, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, said he could not rule out the possibility that US officials sent Arar to Syria to be tortured, something the administration has denied for more than five years. In his report, he stated officials knew it was "more likely than not'' that Arar would be tortured if he was returned to his birthplace rather than Canada, his country of residence. Skinner cited new, unspecified information that contradicted earlier conclusions on how and why the Bush administration picked up and detained Arar at New York's John F. Kennedy airport in 2002, then "rendered'' him to Syria where he was subsequently tortured and held in a grave-like cell for a year. But Democrats on a House of Representatives subcommittee were outraged on June 5 at a report provided to them that showed assurances Arar would not be tortured in Syria were "ambiguous'' and their validity was never checked. That would appear to contradict previous testimony from President Bush's then-attorney-general, Alberto Gonzales, who told Congress assurances had been received from the Syrians. Bush has also consistently maintained the United States would not knowingly send terror suspects to third countries to be tortured, even though Syria was identified as a human rights abuser by the US State Department. The heavily edited report also indicated the acting US attorney-general at the time, Larry Thompson, refused Arar's request to return to his Canadian home because it would be "prejudicial to the interests of the United States.'' Investigators never sought to determine the specific meaning of that edict. "I am baffled by this statement,'' said Bill Delahunt, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs a subcommittee on foreign affairs. "Why not? What happened? Did no one provide you with some kind of justification? Should you at least have been able to see some classified evidence that could explain this decision?" Delahunt said. "Did you ask for it?'' Delahunt also questioned the report's conclusion that the US immigration officials did not breach any conventions against torture, yet did not even bother to examine the validity of any assurances by the government in Damascus. "What kind of procedures permit assurances that aren't even examined?'' he asked. Skinner said he would file a new report if he found anything to contradict any conclusions of his probe. "We have reopened our review into the Arar matter because, less than a month ago, we received additional information that contradicts one of the conclusions in our report,'' he said. Delahunt called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to determine whether the Bush administration broke domestic laws or its obligations under the international conventions on torture. "The American people... have a privilege to demand a full accounting from its government when it deviates from its responsibility to uphold American values,'' he said. "After 4 1/2 years, this administration will not comply.'' The report–titled The Removal of a Canadian Citizen to Syria–revealed that Arar was identified by the state department's "TIPOFF'' system as a "special interest'' alien suspected of affiliation to terrorist activity when he arrived in New York from Switzerland, en route to a connecting flight to Montreal. They warned immigration officials in New York that he was "armed and dangerous.'' It also raises more questions than it answers about who finally decided to send him to Syria, and why, even though Arar had repeatedly requested he be allowed to rejoin his family in Canada. It also documents how American officials contacted his lawyers about his pending deportation by leaving voice messages on an office phone on the weekend, then held a final hearing with Arar–with no lawyer present–at 7pm on a Sunday. Officials told him he was inadmissible in the United States because he was a member of al-Qaida. "We are aware that Arar has denied any terrorist connections,'' the report states. "However, at the time, [Immigration and Naturalization Services] could not dismiss derogatory information provided, nor did it have the capability to independently verify the information.'' "There has clearly been a reluctance to provide information,'' Delahunt said in an interview. "It has not been explained why he was sent to Syria. And we intend to find out.'' Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the report raises more questions about how an innocent Canadian citizen could be sent to another country to be tortured. "It is past time for the administration to give a full explanation of its conduct in this matter, and to follow the example of the Canadian government in taking responsibility for its troubling actions,'' Leahy said. Lorne Waldman, who was co-counsel for Arar at the Canadian inquiry, told the Star's Sarah Barmak the planned review was a "positive sign." "Mr. Arar is entitled to have the American people and the American government acknowledge that they've mistreated him," Waldman said. "We can only hope that the new administration in Washington will assume responsibility for what happened."