[IP] Some more facts: Torture by proxy/How immigration threw a traveler tothewolves
-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Templeton <btm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 11:11:23
To:Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc:perl@xxxxxxxxxx, rdp@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Some more facts: Torture by proxy/How immigration threw a traveler to
thewolves
Naturally I have particular sympathy for Arar, who like me is a computer
scientist and mathematician (He holds a bachelor's in computer engineering
and a PhD in Mathematics) and like me, travels on a Canadian passport.
A few other salient details -- this story has gotten of course much more
play in Canada than in the USA.
a) Arar was not trying to enter the USA. He was just doing a plane
change in NYC coming in from Europe and going on to Montreal. Since
then the USA has cancelled the program that let you stay in a
controlled area to change planes in the USA without entering it.
He was then, bizarrely, deported not back to Europe (normal
procedure for those who fail immigration) or to Canada (his place
of citizenship to which he was flying) but to Syria.
b) The organization that he was accused of assocation with, the Muslim
Brotherhood, is an anti-Syrian-government organization, trying to
bring down the repressive Syrian regime, very much in line with
US goals. So when they sent him to Syria, they tortured him not
to help the USA, but to see if he was one of their own enemies.
c) Arar had been investigated on these associations, and cleared,
in Canada. That got his name in the files though, and thus got
him pulled from the airport. The RCMP's complicity in this is
an issue of contention in Canada right now.
d) Canada issued a travel advisory after this, warning Canadians
who were born in certain Arab nations "to avoid travelling to the
USA." Yup, the USA is the sort of dangerous country travel
advisories get issued on.
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