US refuses to co-operate with Arar inquiry

[ken hanly <khanly@xxxxxxx>]

U.S. refuses to co-operate with Maher Arar inquiry
Letter to commission says Canadian deported without Ottawa's consent

James Gordon
CanWest News Service


Wednesday, September 22, 2004



Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, was detained at New York's JFK airport
in September, 2002, and deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and
allegedly tortured because of suspected terrorism links.


OTTAWA - The United States will not co-operate with the Maher Arar inquiry,
adding it made the right decision to deport Mr. Arar without Canada's
consent.

In a Sept. 10, 2004, letter released by the Arar commission yesterday, a
U.S. State Department lawyer said the inquiry is focused on the actions of
Canadian officials, so it should direct questions to Canadian sources.

"The United States government declines to provide documents in response to
your request, or to provide statements by individuals involved in the case,"
lawyer William H. Taft told lead commission counsel Paul Cavalluzzo.

The letter also reaffirmed Mr. Arar's deportation was based on U.S.
officials' own assessment of the security threat and said the move was "in
the best interests of the United States."

Mr. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian living in Ottawa, was detained at New
York's JFK airport in September, 2002. He was deported to Syria and jailed
for a year without charges because of suspected terrorism links.

Mr. Arar has denied being a terrorist and claims he was tortured while in
Syrian custody.

The letter did not say whether Canadian officials knew Mr. Arar would be
deported or whether they made any efforts to block the move. It pointed out
he was placed on a U.S. terrorist watch list based on information-sharing
with Canada, however.

Mr. Arar's lawyer, Lorne Waldman, said the vagueness of Mr. Taft's language
still leaves many questions about Canadians' actions or lack thereof.

"What's interesting here is that it doesn't say whether they were advised or
consulted," he said. "What needs to be clarified is if we didn't approve,
were we consulted, advised and did we tacitly acquiesce?"

Mr. Waldman said that while he would have liked to see U.S. participation,
he believes those questions will be answered by Mr. Justice Dennis
O'Connor's inquiry.

Mr. Cavalluzzo also said he was disappointed but not surprised by the
decision.

"It's not a blow to the commission in the sense that we're focused on the
conduct of Canadian officials, and we're confident we have more than enough
information to satisfy that mandate," he explained.

The Arar inquiry is being held behind closed doors in Ottawa because of
government concerns over national security.

Mr. Cavalluzzo did not rule out trying to arrange informal meetings with
U.S. officials outside the inquiry setting.

The Syrian government has already stated it will not participate at all.

While lead government lawyer Barbara McIsaac remained confident Judge
O'Connor will have all the information he needs, the U.S-based human rights
groups fighting on Mr. Arar's behalf there were not satisfied.

"This letter is a total refusal by the United States to co-operate with this
inquiry, and it's very disappointing," Human Rights Watch advocacy director
Wendy Patten said.

"The key question here is not the decision to remove him from the United
States, but why was he sent to Syria, and not home to Canada?"

An internal review by the inspector general (similar to Canada's
auditor-general) for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also trying
to determine the answer.

Ms. Patten said it is critically important that someone shed light on the
Americans' role.

"The U.S. is saying all the information can be obtained from Canadian
officials, but that's simply not true," she added.

(Ottawa Citizen)