Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (203757)	9/20/2006 8:16:32 PM
From: Ichy Smith	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

You might read the events in this. You will see that the Canadian government was intensely involved through the whole episode. Why did it take the Canadian government a year to act on this. Arar could have been out in one month had the Canadian government demanded it Too bad you don't have a bloody clue. Notice there were other Canadians in the prison. Canada stood by and did nothing, Canada may claim it didn't know what happened, but why was no action taken?????? Because Canada had decided he was a terrorist. The Canadian Government knew exactly what was happening from the first Day and did nothing. canada.com Some key dates in the ordeal of Maher Arar Canadian Press Published: Monday, September 18, 2006 Article tools Printer friendly E-mail Font: * * * * (CP) - Key dates in the ordeal of Maher Arar: Sept. 26, 2002 Arar arrives at JFK Airport in New York City, on a flight from Zurich, headed for Montreal. He is detained by U.S. authorities, questioned, told he is inadmissible to the United States and asked where he would like to go. He says Canada. Oct. 4, 2002 Arar is visited by Maureen Girvan, a Canadian consular officer in New York. She later says she never thought the Americans would send him anywhere except home to Canada. Oct. 8, 2002 Arar is taken from his cell at 3 a.m. and told by American officials he is being deported to Syria on suspicion of terrorist activity. He is bundled aboard a private jet. Oct. 9, 2002 The plane lands in Jordan and Arar is quickly transferred by car to Damascus where he is to be jailed by Syrian military intelligence. Oct. 10, 2002 Arar gets his first look at a cell he describes as being the size of a grave. He is to spend most of the next 10 months there. Oct. 11, 2002 Arar is tortured for the first time, beaten on his palms, wrists, lower back and hips with an electrical cable. He confesses - falsely, he says - to terrorist training in Afghanistan. Oct. 23, 2002 Arar meets Canadian consul Leo Martel for the first time. The beatings have lessened since he was first jailed, and Martel later says he couldn't detect any signs of physical torture. There are several more consular visits in subsequent months but none are private; Syrian officials insist on being present. Early April, 2003 Arar is briefly allowed some time in an outdoor courtyard. It's the first time he has seen the sun in six months. April 23, 2003 Arar meets Canadian ambassador Franco Pillarella and two visiting Canadian MPs, Marlene Catterall and Sarkis Assadourian. Again the Syrians insist on being present and he can't speak frankly. Aug. 14, 2003 Routine consular visits resume after a long interruption. Arar describes his living conditions and later says he told the consul he had been tortured. The consul says he knew living conditions were bad, but Arar never spoke of torture. Aug. 23, 2003 Arar is blindfolded, put in a car and driven to a new prison. His treatment improves and there is no further torture. He is no longer held in solitary confinement and can mix with other prisoners. Sept. 19, 2003 Arar is teaching English to fellow prisoners when he hears another Canadian has arrived at the prison. It's Abdullah Almalki, an acquaintance from Ottawa who has also been tortured. Oct. 4, 2003 After days of anticipating further interrogation, Arar is told instead that he will be going home to Canada. He doesn't believe it. Oct. 5, 2003 Arar is taken to meet a prosecutor who reads out a confession of his supposed terrorist past and tells him to sign it without giving him a chance to read it. He is then taken to meet the head of Syrian military intelligence, who has been joined by Canadian officials for the occasion. Arar is freed and put on a plane to Canada.