Ottawa sacrificed Arar to save face with US, Syria

Ibbitson puts it all quite succinctly:National security my ass. Foreign Affairs, CSIS and especially the RCMP were simply trying to keep hidden their incompetent, duplicitous, disgraceful handling of the Arar file. And they're still at it.

The are still at it in the Iacobucci inquiry and they are still denying others such as Benatta any possibility of justice. All the while some Canadians are busy on the Great Wall protesting Chinese violations of Tibetan rights. Fine but why ignore what is going on here in our own backyard.



THE ARAR REPORT: BEHIND THE COURT ORDER

Ottawa sacrificed Arar to save face with U.S., Syria

JOHN IBBITSON


August 10, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The federal government fought like blazes to keep the fact that the CIA sent Maher Arar to Syria from you - they fought so hard that it took a court order for you to hear it - because Ottawa doesn't want to lose face with the Americans, or the Syrians for that matter.

To preserve their trust, our government was prepared to sacrifice the trust of its own citizens. What are we to make of such a thing?

The blacked-out lines of Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor's report that are now available for all to see offer little that should surprise.

Of course the Central Intelligence Agency was at the heart of the decision to deport Mr. Arar to Syria. That's what the CIA does. We already knew - because the inquiry report describes it in grim detail - that Canadian intelligence and justice officials were feeding the Americans wrong information, though we now know that some of that wrong information came from Syria, where it had been pried under duress from another Syrian-Canadian, Ahmad Abou El Maati.

And we discover that at least one Canadian official warned his colleagues, after Mr. Arar had already been deported, that the Yanks probably wanted to send him somewhere where he could be tortured.

Big deal.

And yet the federal government refused to disclose this information, which Judge O'Connor wanted to make public, until a Federal Court judge ordered it to, because intelligence agencies will go to any length to avoid identifying each other as sources.

There is good reason to accept such secrecy as the necessary price of vigilance. Perhaps the single most important accomplishment of the American and Canadian governments in this decade has been preventing a second terrorist attack from occurring on either country's soil.

Since it is the first duty of government to secure the safety of its citizens, Ottawa and Washington deserve praise for carrying out that duty.

It also seemed reasonable for the federal government to insist that some portions of the Arar inquiry report be kept from the public.

There was always the risk that the inquiry could undermine trust and ease of communication between American and Canadian security and intelligence officials. That trust is crucial to strengthening the perimeter and to detecting and deterring future threats.

But the revelations of Judge O'Connor's report revealed greater concerns: the ineptness of the RCMP in managing the information it had on Mr. Arar; (the very ease of communication that many of us feared would be compromised by the inquiry was proved not to exist during the Arar affair); the great danger in which the force placed Mr. Arar by transmitting that information to the Americans without the proper caveats, and then the mendacity the Mounties employed in trying to cover up their responsibility.

By the time the report's findings were digested, the risk of damage to Canada's reputation among the spying fraternity was the least of our concerns. The more vital task was to restore Canadians' faith in the probity of their government and national police force.

For Ottawa to then fight to keep the public from hearing of the CIA's involvement in the affair - especially when any reasonable reader of the report could have deduced that involvement - shows that it is still more interested in international proprieties than in telling the truth to the Canadian people.

It is ludicrous to suppose that Canadian-American relations have been damaged because the CIA has been outed by the O'Connor report. That troubled American intelligence service already has enough on its plate right now.

The only real damage the federal government has done, through both Liberal and Conservative administrations, is to itself. There are things about the Arar affair that you can't be told, our government informed us, for reasons of national security.

National security my ass. Foreign Affairs, CSIS and especially the RCMP were simply trying to keep hidden their incompetent, duplicitous, disgraceful handling of the Arar file. And they're still at it.

Why should anyone trust anything that our government says about Maher Arar any more?

Benamar Benatta

There is deafening silence on Benatta. Harper is not about to ruffle US feathers by conducting an inquiry into this case since it involves mistreatment by the US. Who knows what the deal was when the US agreed to return Benatta to Canada. It is typical of excuses for denying people documents that they are lost. Most convenient.

The Iacobucci Inquiry by the way is mostly not public. It is even called an Internal Inquiry. The lawyers and the three Muslim Canadians involved all have standing at the inquiry but since most of the hearings are private and they are excluded from those their main role is asking questions. The inquiry has not even released progress summaries that would at least give the public an idea what is going on. It is all secret between those being investigated and the legal beagles from Torys LLP.
Iacobucci denied Benatta standing and refused to consider his case because it was outside his terms of reference. The terms of reference were deliberately narrow. The inquiry was to be mainly secret, it does not deal with clearing the three in any way.
It is a wonder that the lawyers for the three even bother to particiate. Jackman has referred the terms of reference to the courts as being too narrow.
Please share with all of your networks in Canada and internationally! (This note comes from Toronto Action for Social Change, a founding member of the Benatta Coalition for a Public Review)


Imprisoned. Tortured. Abused. Forgotten. Why?
The Case of Benamar Benatta: Canada's First 9/11 Rendition to Torture

JULY 20, 2007, TORONTO -- Today Benamar Benatta marks a bittersweet anniversary. It was one year ago that he came to Canada for the second time, continuing his effort to be accepted here as a refugee. The first time he came to Canada, September 5, 2001, his life changed forever, and he wants to find out why.

Benatta born born in Algeria, but came to North America to flee political persecution and threats to his life while serving in the Algerian Armed Forces as an aeronautical engineer. In early September 2001 Mr. Benatta crossed the border into Canada and claimed political asylum. Mr. Benatta was detained pending further inquiries into his identity.

While in Canadian custody and unbeknownst to Mr. Benatta, terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in New York City and other targets on September 11, 2001. Canadian officials alerted the Americans to the presence of Mr. Benatta and identified him as a person who allegedly had something to do with the attacks of September 11, 2001, seemingly because he was a Muslim man who knew something about airplanes. Without a hearing, without counsel and without conducting proceedings in his first language (French), Mr. Benatta was unceremoniously driven over the border in the back of a car and handed over to the Americans on September 12, 2001. This was an illegal transfer by the Canadian government. This was against the law.

While being held in the notorious Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Centre, Benatta was assigned "high security status" and detained in solitary confinement; he was deprived of sleep; his cell was illuminated 24 hours a day; guardsregularly beat him, and kept him constantly awake by banging on his door every half hour, a door which had been spray-painted WTC (World Trade Centre).

Mr. Benatta was actually cleared of any terrorist suspicions by the FBI in November 2001; however, he was never told that he was cleared. In fact, Mr. Benatta was held incommunicado and without access to legal counsel. In all, Mr. Benatta spent nearly five years of his life in American prisons were he was abused and tortured (as documented by the United Nations and the U.S. department of justice). Indeed, according to U.S. Federal Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr.,"As a result of the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, the Canadian authorities alerted United States authorities of defendant's presence and profile ... and returned him to the United States....The defendant in this case undeniably was deprived of his liberty, and held in custody under harsh conditions which can be said to be 'oppressive'....To accept the [U.S.] government's arguments "would be to join in the charade that has been perpetrated."

In an opinion adopted in September, 2004, by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, it was concluded with respect to Benatta, "Finally, the [U.S.] Government has said nothing about the high-security prison regime (involving impositions that could be described as torture), which, for no reason whatsoever, was imposed on him . . ."

After all of this hardship, Benatta came across the border a year ago, and has resumed his claim for asylum. His application is currently pending, and like many refugees, he lives in a state of limbo, unable to get on with his life, and haunted by some serious questions that have yet to be answered.

How was Canada involved in all of this? Why did Canadian officials undertake this rendition to torture?

Benatta sought intervenor status at the Iacobucci Commission investigating the cases of torture against Canadians Ahmad El-Maati, Abdullah Almalki, and Muayyed Nureddin, but was unfortunately turned down. In his request for standing, Benatta had pointed out that El-Maati, Almalki, and Nureddin "were all detained and tortured on foregin soil allegedly because of information provided to foreign governments (Syria and Egypt) by Canadian officials linking these men to terrorist activities. Mr. Benatta was also detained and tortured on foreign soil because of information provided to a foreign government (America) by Canadian officials linking Mr. Benatta to terrorist activities, in particular, the events of September 11, 2001."

But Iacobucci did not see it that way, and what was supposed to be a public inquiry is in fact being held in secret, without the presence of those three men and their lawyers.

Since his return to Canada, Benatta sought records of his earlier refugee claim held by Canadian officials, but was informed his 2001 claim has been "misplaced." The Canadian government also erroneously alleges that Benatta withdrew his claim for asylum prior to the 9/12/2001 rendition, but has produced no documentation to support this outrageous claim.

Earlier this year, Benatta and his supporters began the Benatta Coalition for a Public Review, which could certainly use the support of everyone in this country who cares about the complicity of the Canadian government and its so-called "intelligence" agencies in acts of torture.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. Get more information by going to Benamar's website,
http://www.benamarbenatta.com/
Once there, sign the online petition calling for a public review. There are also media clips from a press conference Benamar and his supporters held in Ottawa earlier this year.

2. Write to Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, demanding that he grant a public review of Benatta's case so that Benamar and all people in Canada can get the answers they need, and to prevent such human rights abuses from occurring.

Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Building, 13th Floor
340 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0P8

Munir El-Kassem

At least he wasn't imprisoned and found to be an Al Qaeda member by an immigration court and then rendered to Syria as was Maher Arar. It is hard to believe that supposed professionals at the border could act in such a bizarre way. Will the persons involved be punished. I wouldn't hold my breath. Perhaps they will come up with a wildly different story even. While investigating US treatment of Muslims an even worse case is Benamar Benatta who was sent back to the US--he says involuntarily- before his refugee hearing and held in jail and allegedly tortured. He was held for about five years. He is back in Canada now. He is not a Canadian citizen though.


Ottawa to look into U.S. treatment of Canadian Muslim
Last Updated: Friday, June 8, 2007 | 3:24 PM ET
CBC News
The government will look into the mistreatment of a Canadian Muslim detained by U.S. border officials last month, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Friday.

Munir El-Kassem, who is seeking an apology, said he was dehumanized and demeaned by American border authorities last month during a stopover at the Detroit airport en route to a conference in Milwaukee.

El-Kassem, a professor of dentistry at London's University of Western Ontario, said that when authorities found out he was Muslim, he was sternly ordered down a hallway into an interrogation room and questioned about whether he personally knew Osama bin Laden. He was also asked whether he believed in Allah or God.

"This was a very, very unfortunate incident," MacKay said Friday during question period, adding that Ottawa "will take the matter up" with U.S. border authorities.

El-Kassem, who was fingerprinted and detained for four hours, hopes his case will highlight the need for more interfaith dialogue.

With files from the Canadian Press

Fear is no excuse for torture.

There is also the case of Benamar Benatta who was surrendered to US authorities and claims torture or certainly mistreatment during years of being jailed there. The case of Khadr is interesting in its contrast to Celil the Chinese Uighr who belongs to a terrorist group according to the Chinese and had an international warrant for his arrest. The issue has been brought up at the highest level by MacKay. However, absolutely nothing has been done about Khadr who was in fact a juvenile when apprehended. The same silence on US torture is evident in every article about torture in Afghanistan. The torture is all by Afghan authorities. Bagram prison is not even mentioned.

Fear is no excuse for torture
LORNE WALDMAN

Special to Globe and Mail Update

May 1, 2007 at 1:00 AM EDT

Outcry over the treatment of the about 40 Afghans detained by the Canadian Forces since 2002 has spawned a public debate that goes to the heart of our democratic values. Given the absolute prohibition against torture, most Canadians are horrified to think our government is complicit in the practice.

The fact it has occurred thousands of miles away is irrelevant. Anyone who aids and abets in torture can be prosecuted. Indeed, so abhorrent is torture to our legal system, it is one of the few offences in our Criminal Code where a person who has committed the torture outside Canada can be prosecuted here. The prohibition against torture is universal and applies everywhere on the planet.

Given this, how are we to understand our government's conduct over the question of the Afghan detainees? When confronted with the question of how to deal with enemy fighters detained during military operations in Afghanistan, our military failed to provide for a system with sufficient safeguards to protect against torture.

It's no surprise that many of those detained by the Canadian Forces have now revealed that once they were handed over to the Afghan military or police, they were tortured. This makes Canada complicit in their torture. One can only assume that those who drafted the agreement thought Canadians would not care about a few Taliban detained in Afghanistan.

The situation of the Afghan detainees is not, however, the only time in the recent past where the conduct of Canadian officials has made them complicit in torture. Take the case of Maher Arar. In the fall of 2001, Mr. Arar, as a result of a chance meeting, became "a person of interest" in a national security investigation. RCMP flagged him as an "Islamic extremist" on an international lookout list.

As Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor concluded in his report, this inflammatory and erroneous information contributed to the American decision to deport Mr. Arar to Syria. This careless use of national security information made Canada complicit in his torture.

At the same time as Maher Arar was languishing in a Syrian prison, so was Abdullah Almalki. Mr. Almalki has alleged in a lawsuit that the RCMP sent the Syrian military a series of questions in January of 2003, as a result of which he was brought up for further interrogation and torture sessions.

This conduct points to Canada as being complicit in his torture as well.

One final example of our complicity is the case of Omar Khadr, the Canadian citizen held at Guantanamo Bay. Detained in Afghanistan as a 15-year-old, Mr. Khadr was apparently subjected to torture at the hands of U.S. officials. He now faces a trial before the kangaroo courts set up by the Bush administration to try enemy combatants. The Bush administration has steadfastly ignored the fact that Mr. Khadr was a child when he was detained and that, as a result, he ought to be treated as a child soldier.

Instead of charging Mr. Khadr with offences, his rehabilitation should be the chief concern.

In the face of this injustice, our government remains silent. There is no doubt that the Khadr case is difficult. His family is notorious, as are the family's connections to al-Qaeda. Despite this, our government still has a duty to protect a young Canadian citizen who was detained as a child, has been tortured, and is now being tried in sham proceedings. Our silence is tantamount to acquiescence.

Each of these scenarios raises difficult questions. No doubt, the world has changed as a result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. We are much more aware of a serious threat posed by extremist groups.

We cannot, however, let our fear become a justification to allow expediency to take over. We must ensure our fear of terrorism does not undermine our fundamental democratic values. Afghan detainees are entitled to humane treatment, even if they are Taliban. Persons who are suspected of being connected to an al-Qaeda cell are entitled to expect that our national security apparatus will send accurate and reliable information to foreign agencies. They are also entitled to expect that we will not seek the assistance of a regime notorious for human-rights violations when such assistance might lead to torture. Finally, Canadian citizens have a right to expect our government will intervene to protect them from torture and injustice, regardless of their background.

Lorne Waldman represented Maher Arar at the commission of inquiry by Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor.

CAIR-CAN report on Iacobucci Inquiry etc.

Not a peep out of the government concerning any further investigations. I would be pleasantly surprised if anything at all is done.


CAIR-CAN Granted 'Intervenor Status' on Detainee Case

CAIR-CAN, CAF AND CMCLA GRANTED INTERVENOR STATUS AT IACOBUCCI INQUIRY

(OTTAWA, CANADA - April 4, 2007) The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN), the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) and the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA) have been granted intervenor status at the inquiry into the cases of three Canadians who were wrongfully detained and tortured, between 2001 and 2004, in Syria and Egypt.

Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin believe their detention and torture was the result of false information being shared with Canadian officials and foreign governments. The inquiry will be presided over by former Supreme Court Justice the Honourable Frank Iacobucci.

"The Iacobucci Inquiry is a necessary follow-up to Arar. Justice Denis O'Connor's recommendations have yet to be implemented by the current government; the most important, establishing review bodies for the RCMP and all security agencies, so their practices and procedures can be scrutinized," said Karl Nickner, Executive Director of CAIR-CAN.

"Iacobucci's Inquiry will help bring fairness and justice to Canadian Arabs and Muslims, the first victims of "the war on terror" and overzealous security practices."

"Racial and religious profiling of Canadian Arabs and Muslims by government agencies cannot continue," said Mohamed Boudjenane, CAF's Executive Director.

"We hope the inquiry will outline measures to increase confidence in Canada's security agencies. The level of trust that Canadians of Arab and Muslim heritage have for CSIS and the RCMP is at an all time low," said Faisal Kutty, legal counsel for CAIR-CAN and CMCLA.

Additionally, CAIR-CAN, CAF and CMCLA are calling for a government inquiry into the cases of Torontonian Benamar Benatta, an Algerian air force defector held by U.S. authorities on suspicions of terrorism for almost five years, and Montréaler Mohamed Omary, detained by the Moroccan government for two years. Both applied to be heard at the Iacobucci Inquiry alleging that Canadian officials had a hand in their detention; however, the inquiry's restricted government mandate prevented their cases from being heard.

SEE: www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070403.ALGERIAN03/TPStory

CONTACT: CAIR-CAN: Sameer Zuberi, Communications Coordinator at 613-795-2012; CAF: Mohamed Boudjenane, Executive Director at 416-889-6764; CMCLA: Faisal Kutty, Legal Counsel at 416-647-4178

Thomas Walkom: On Benamar Benatta

I am happy that someone is still keeping this case alive. Benatta received shabby treatment from Canada and even worse from the US. At least he is back in Canada. I have heard of no action in the US to investigate his treatment. All the flutter of activity by Sen. Leahy and Specter about Arar seems to have died down now as well. Gonzales remains on the hotseat only because of his firings of attorneys.

Somebody should probe this man's case


Asks for asylum in Canada, sent to U.S., jailed for years

Apr 07, 2007 04:30 AM
Thomas Walkom

First, there was the Maher Arar case. A judge who looked into it concluded that the RCMP played a key role in the U.S. decision to send the Canadian computer engineer to Syria for torture.

Then, came the cases of three other Muslim Canadians who say that they too were tortured in Syria with the help of Canadian security services. The claims of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin are being investigated by retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci.

Now, another allegation involving Canada's role in so-called extraordinary renditions has surfaced. This time, it is Canada that is said to have done the rendering. Refugee claimant Benamar Benatta – an Algerian air force officer who says he deserted while on assignment in the United States in order to flee his homeland's decade-long dirty war, and who later sought asylum in Canada – swears in an affidavit filed with the Iacobucci inquiry that on Sept. 12, 2001, Canadian officials transported him across the border against his will and without a legal deportation order.

There are some things about this affair that we know from official U.S. and Canadian records. We know that Benatta, who had arrived in Fort Erie on Sept. 5 and requested political asylum, was in detention awaiting a scheduled immigration review. We also know that the review never happened. Instead, on the day after 9/11, Canadian officials drove him across the border and handed him over to U.S. authorities. They, in turn, transferred him to a jail in Brooklyn, one later criticized by the U.S. justice department for its abuse of Muslim prisoners.

By November, FBI interrogators concluded Benatta was unconnected to terrorism. Still, he remained in jail in Brooklyn for another five months. He says guards would amuse themselves by slamming his head against the wall.

In April 2002, he was charged with minor immigration offences and brought before a judge. The case went on for a year and a half. In the end, federal judge Kenneth Schroeder accused the U.S. government of engaging in "sham" and "subterfuge." He concluded that Benatta had been detained under "extremely harsh conditions" and denied counsel. And he recommended that all charges be dropped. Eventually, reluctantly, the U.S. government agreed.

Even then, Benatta was kept in jail for another 2 1/2 years. In the U.S., his case became a minor cause célèbre, an example of post 9/11 excess. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights weighed in with a 2004 report on Benatta that accused Washington of flouting its international obligations.

Last July, he was brought – in irons – to the border and released back into Canada to pursue his asylum request. He is no longer in jail.

During all of this, no one said much about Canada's role. In his judgment, Schroeder noted only that "as a result of the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, the Canadian authorities alerted United States authorities of defendant's presence and profile ... and returned him to the United States."

Indeed, there seems to be a curious lack of official documentation. We know he entered Canada in 2001 using – as do many refugee claimants – false papers. We know that by that point he had been living illegally in the U.S. for four months. We know, from transcripts of his first appearance before an immigration adjudicator on Sept. 12, that he was being held in detention until his identity could be authenticated and that a review of his case was scheduled for the following week. We also know that his English was not very good but that he declined the offer of an interpreter.

A Canadian government memo filed with the Iacobucci inquiry says that Benatta voluntarily agreed to return to the U.S. But it also notes that Ottawa can find no paper work to support that claim.

In short, we do not know the circumstances of his removal from Canada. Clearly, someone in Canada contacted the Americans to say the Algerian was in custody. Did the U.S. then ask for him back? Did Canada volunteer him? That Benatta would agree to leave Canada in the midst of making a refugee claim and with a hearing scheduled seems implausible. Yet, if he did not agree, who authorized his removal? If this was vigilante deportation, has it become a common practice?

Iacobucci won't investigate Benatta's case. He said this week his mandate is limited. Fine. But someone should. Regardless of the merits of Benatta's refugee claim, the manner in which it and he were treated is manifestly disturbing.

News release by CAIR-CAN

Good that CAIR recommends investigation of the two people who were not given standing, Benamar Benatta and Mohamed Omary.


Thursday, April 05, 2007
CAIR-CAN Granted 'Intervenor Status' on Detainee Case
Groups View Inquiry as Necessary Follow-up to Arar

CAIR-CAN, CAF AND CMCLA GRANTED INTERVENOR STATUS AT IACOBUCCI INQUIRY

(OTTAWA, CANADA - April 4, 2007) The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN), the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) and the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA) have been granted intervenor status at the inquiry into the cases of three Canadians who were wrongfully detained and tortured, between 2001 and 2004, in Syria and Egypt.

Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin believe their detention and torture was the result of false information being shared with Canadian officials and foreign governments. The inquiry will be presided over by former Supreme Court Justice the Honourable Frank Iacobucci.

"The Iacobucci Inquiry is a necessary follow-up to Arar. Justice Denis O'Connor's recommendations have yet to be implemented by the current government; the most important, establishing review bodies for the RCMP and all security agencies, so their practices and procedures can be scrutinized," said Karl Nickner, Executive Director of CAIR-CAN.

"Iacobucci's Inquiry will help bring fairness and justice to Canadian Arabs and Muslims, the first victims of "the war on terror" and overzealous security practices."

"Racial and religious profiling of Canadian Arabs and Muslims by government agencies cannot continue," said Mohamed Boudjenane, CAF's Executive Director.

"We hope the inquiry will outline measures to increase confidence in Canada's security agencies. The level of trust that Canadians of Arab and Muslim heritage have for CSIS and the RCMP is at an all time low," said Faisal Kutty, legal counsel for CAIR-CAN and CMCLA.

Additionally, CAIR-CAN, CAF and CMCLA are calling for a government inquiry into the cases of Torontonian Benamar Benatta, an Algerian air force defector held by U.S. authorities on suspicions of terrorism for almost five years, and Montréaler Mohamed Omary, detained by the Moroccan government for two years. Both applied to be heard at the Iacobucci Inquiry alleging that Canadian officials had a hand in their detention; however, the inquiry's restricted government mandate prevented their cases from being heard.

SEE: www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070403.ALGERIAN03/TPStory

CONTACT: CAIR-CAN: Sameer Zuberi, Communications Coordinator at 613-795-2012; CAF: Mohamed Boudjenane, Executive Director at 416-889-6764; CMCLA: Faisal Kutty, Legal Counsel at 416-647-4178

Benamar Benatta: Submission to Iacobucci Inquiry

This is part of the submission by Benatta's legal team. The entire submission and those of everyone else seeking standing is at this site. Benatta was denied standing. The reason given is that the inquiry was specifically to inquire into the cases of three other individuals. I can understand the decision but I thought Iacobucci would at least say that his case ought to be investigated as did O'Connor with respect to Almalki, el Maati, and Nurredin, the three that Iacobucci is investigating. Sorry about the formatting the numbers are lines of pages.


he 15
was sent to the United States for training by the 16
Algerian military. He was to be trained by a U.S. 17
defence contractor. 18
Recognizing that this was his 19
opportunity to cross the border into Canada and 20
seek refugee status, he did so following the 21
completion of that training. 22
He was ordered detained by 23
Canadian authorities pending confirmation of his 24
identity. While he was being held in detention on 25
52
StenoTran
September 11th he was unaware of the tragic events 1
that had occurred. In other words, he had no 2
information at that time that those events had in 3
fact taken place. 4
The next day, on September 12th, 5
a hearing was commenced by an Adjudicator of the 6
Immigration and Refugee Board. Without benefit 7
of legal counsel or an interpreter, his detention 8
review hearing was adjourned for a further week. 9
No inquiry into his refugee claim had even been 10
commenced. 11
Later that same day he was 12
questioned by people he believes to be Canadian 13
officials about matters that seemed unrelated to 14
his immigration case. He was asked about his 15
ability to fly an airplane, his relationship to 16
events in Algeria and other matters that bore no 17
relation, as he understood it, to his claim to 18
refugee status in Canada. 19
He was then taken by Canadian 20
officials and placed in the back seat of an 21
automobile. He thought he was being driven to 22
another detention centre in Canada. Instead, he 23
was unceremoniously driven across the border and 24
handed over to American authorities. 25
53

There was no legal authority 1
whatsoever for what was done to Mr. Benatta. He 2
was renditioned and he was not deported from 3
Canada. There was no legal authority such as 4
deportation for his removal from Canada. 5
What happened thereafter is well 6
documented. Solely on the basis of information 7
provided by Canadian officials, he was held in 8
isolation in the Batavia Detention Centre without 9
charge or access to counsel. 10
He was continuously interrogated 11
about the September 11th terrorist attacks. That 12
was the first time he learned about those attacks. 13
On September 16th he was 14
transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Centre 15
in Brooklyn, New York. No charges were laid or 16
access to counsel provided to him. 17
He was held incommunicado in a 18
solitary confinement for many months. He was 19
deprived of sleep. The lights in his cell were 20
never turned off. Every 30 minutes, prison staff 21
would come and bang on the door and awaken him if 22
he had fallen asleep.

Iacobucci refuses standing to Benatta and Omary.

This is unfortunate but not surprising since the inquiry was specifically called to investigate three other people and Iacobucci is going to be hard pressed to finish doing even that within his time frame. However, there should be an investigation of Benatta and Omary as well since they also seem to have suffered from the actions of Canadian authorities. Sallot's article neglects to mention that Benatta claims that he did not go back to the US voluntarily as claimed by Canadian authorities. In effect in this case he was rendered to the US where he spent years in jail.

Algerian defector loses bid for federal inquiry
JEFF SALLOT

OTTAWA -- An Algerian air force defector who says he was illegally deported from Canada to the United States has lost his bid to have his case investigated by a federal commission of inquiry.

Benamar Benatta, 32, who was held by U.S. authorities as a terrorism suspect for almost five years, asked the inquiry commissioner to add his case to that of three Canadian Muslim men who claim federal officials were involved in their imprisonment abroad.

However, his request was denied yesterday by Commissioner Frank Iacobucci, the former Supreme Court of Canada judge who was appointed by the government to investigate the three other cases.

In a written ruling, Mr. Iacobucci said the cabinet order establishing the commission is specific and limited to the cases of Abdullah Almalki of Ottawa and Torontonians Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin.



Mr. Iacobucci, who was appointed in December, faces a relatively tight deadline to wrap up his inquiry by January of 2008. He hasn't started hearing witnesses in any of the three cases.

All three men were detained in Damascus in the same prison where Maher Arar was imprisoned and tortured. They say they were interrogated and tortured on the basis of information that could only have come from Canadian sources.

Mr. Benatta lives in Toronto and is seeking political asylum in Canada. Immigration officials granted him temporary residency last summer after they were unable to locate legal papers that might have justified his deportation in 2001.

Mr. Benatta, who was a lieutenant in the Algerian air force, deserted while on a training course in the United States in 2001. Fluent in French, he felt his asylum and resettlement chances were better in Canada than in the United States.

He crossed the border at Fort Erie, Ont., on Sept. 5, 2001. Six days later, he was still being held for identification and processing at a Canadian immigration detention centre when terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.

Canadian officials say Mr. Benatta voluntarily agreed to be returned to the United States, where he spent nearly five years at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the same lock-up where Mr. Arar was held before he was deported to Syria.

In his ruling, Mr. Iacobucci also turned down the application for standing of Mohamed Omary, a Montreal man who says information from Canadian agencies resulted in his detention in Morocco for two years.

However, Mr. Iacobucci granted intervenor status to several human-rights organizations and the Canadian Arab Federation. This will allow the groups to call witnesses and make presentations on questions of policy.

Mr. Iacobucci will hold a hearing April 17 to discuss procedural issues with the participants. One of the issues is how to make sure the interests of the three men can be protected when hearings are held secretly for national security reasons. The government said secrecy should be the rule and openness the exception to safeguard national security.

Another article on Benatta

It would be good if Iacobucci could look into this case as well but he will not have much time and it might offend Harper's good friend George Bush. Certainly the US would not co-operate.


Algerian wants probe to review his case
Man says his ordeal similar to cases of Canadian Muslims tortured in Mideast
JEFF SALLOT

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — A defector from the Algerian air force, detained by Canadian authorities just days before the 9/11 attacks and then deported to the United States as a terrorism suspect, is fighting to have his case investigated by a federal commission of inquiry.

Benamar Benatta, 32, who was held by the United States for almost five years, said there are important similarities between his case and those of three Canadian Muslim men who were tortured in the Middle East.

The inquiry, set up by the Conservative government in December to probe possible Canadian involvement in the three torture cases, begins its first hearings today. Lawyers for Mr. Benatta are asking for legal standing so they can present evidence of what they say is Canadian complicity in their client's illegal detention in the United States after the al-Qaeda attacks.

Frank Iacobucci, a former Supreme Court judge, who heads the inquiry, will also hear from five human-rights and Islamic groups seeking legal standing and federal financing for lawyers' bills.
Mr. Benatta's story is largely unknown in Canada, although it attracted some coverage in The Washington Post during his long struggle to be released from a U.S. detention centre.

The Algerian man is now living in Toronto. He is seeking political asylum in Canada, but has not yet had a refugee-determination hearing.

Canadian immigration officials granted him temporary residency last summer after they were unable to locate legal papers that might have justified his deportation from Canada in 2001.

In an affidavit filed with the Iacobucci inquiry, Mr. Benatta says in the 1990s he was a lieutenant in the Algerian air force with an engineering degree in aviation electronics.

He says he was jailed for insubordination for five months when he refused to participate in the "unlawful and unconscionable acts of the Algerian military" against civilians. His life has also been threatened by an Algerian Islamic militia, he says.

Mr. Benatta returned to military service and was sent to train on new aviation electronics equipment in the United States. In 2001, he deserted by refusing to go home to Algeria. Fluent in French, he felt his asylum and resettlement chances were better in Canada than in the United States.

He crossed the border at Fort Erie, Ont., on Sept. 5. Six days later, he was still being held for identification and processing at a Canadian immigration detention centre when terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

What happened next is subject to dispute. Canadian officials say Mr. Benatta voluntarily agreed to be returned to the United States. However, "there is no documentation to support this," one Canadian immigration official admits in a letter sent last year to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Willingly or not, Mr. Benatta was driven back across the border to Buffalo and handed over to U.S. authorities. He spent nearly five years at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the same lock-up where Canadian Maher Arar was held before he was deported to Syria.

In his affidavit, Mr. Benatta says the Americans treated him harshly, kept him in solitary confinement for long periods in a cell with the lights on 24 hours a day and deprived him of sleep. He says he was beaten regularly. "I repeatedly had my head slammed against the wall."

(The mistreatment of Muslim prisoners at the Brooklyn lock-up has been documented in a report by the U.S. Justice Department's inspector-general.)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation cleared him of involvement with terrorism. But the Americans continued to hold him on charges that he used false identification to remain in the United States after his defection.

He was released last summer when Canadian immigration officials informed the Americans that Mr. Benatta would receive a temporary residency permit while he pursued his refugee claim.

Canadian records show "Mr. Benatta would be allowed to return to Canada should he wish once the U.S. authorities had finalized processing of his case," Randy Orr, a Canadian immigration official, wrote July 11, 2006.

Benamar Benatta

One of the persons seeking to participate in the Iacobucci Inquiry is Benamar Benatta. I had never heard of this person before. It seems that Benatta was traveling from the US to Canada to seek asylum when he was caught by Canadian authorities with false ID. This was just before 9/11. Afterwards he was taken back to the US without any due process by Canadian authorities. In the US he was jailed for years and he claims he was tortured. This is another case where Canada helped ensure that a person was jailed (albeit not a citizen) and mistreated if not tortured. In fact Benatta was actually in fear of Islamic radicals in Algeria. So this fellow spent four years in jail as a suspected terrorist when it seems he had absolutely zilch to do with terrorism. The article appeared in August 2006.

His nightmare began on 9/12
JESSICA LEEDER - Toronto Star VIA theFilter.ca
August 09, 2006

A refugee claimant who was handed over to American officials at the border as a terror suspect the day after 9/11 says he is still trying to figure out how he was launched into a five-year nightmare in U.S. jails.

Benamar Benatta, newly freed after 58 months in custody, is a former Algerian Air Force lieutenant. He is believed to be the last of about 1,200 Muslim men swept up in post-9/11 investigations to be released.

He was finally allowed to leave a U.S. immigration lockup late last week after his lawyers brokered a deal with Canadian immigration authorities to let him pursue the refugee claim he originally began at the Peace Bridge days before the 9/11 attacks.

In his first interview with a Canadian newspaper since his release, Benatta, 32, told the Star yesterday that the legal details of his Sept. 12, 2001, transfer to the U.S. are still murky. At the time, there was no law in place allowing Canadian officials to return refugee claimants suspected of terrorism to the U.S., as there now is under post-9/11 provisions of the Immigration Act.

While the case has some parallels to that of Maher Arar — the Canadian citizen shipped by the U.S. to Syria under the controversial practice of "rendition" — Benatta's status as a non-citizen and potential refugee claimant puts his transfer to U.S. custody in a legal grey area.

Within days of the attacks, Benatta found himself in solitary confinement under abusive conditions — some of which are documented in court filings — south of the border.

"They told me I was being transferred to another detention centre within Canada," he said. "I knew I was in the States when I found myself in front of the U.S. Customs officers. I was in some sort of shock."

Canadian immigration officials said yesterday they could not comment on the specifics of Benatta's case; the Canadian Department of Justice, which usually handles extradition issues, did not return calls for comment.

U.S. court documents from a 2003 judge's inquiry into Benatta's treatment state that "Canadian authorities alerted United States authorities of defendant's presence and profile ... and returned him to the United States."

The names of officials who made the decision to transfer Benatta are not given in the filings.

Benatta first arrived in the United States on a visitor's visa in late December 2000. His permit was good for only six months, which the avionics technician spent doing military surveillance and anti-terrorism training with other Algerian Air Force personnel at a Virginia-based defence contractor.

The truth, Benatta explained in his French-accented English, was that he had become a conscientious objector and had no plans to return home. By the end of the summer of 2001, he decided to file a refugee claim in Canada. He expected difficulties with his claim when he arrived at the Peace Bridge, on Sept. 5, 2001, because he was carrying false U.S. identification cards, including the social security card he had used to get work as a busboy in New York City after his visa expired. He said the documents prompted Canadian immigration officials to detain him in Niagara Falls for "identification checking."

"During my detention, Sept. 11th happens," Benatta said.

At the time, Benatta had no idea about the attacks, having been held by immigration since Sept. 5. He learned about the attacks when FBI agents began questioning him on Sept. 12.

In the days that followed, he was interrogated extensively and shuffled between U.S. immigration and criminal law enforcement officials. At no time was he given access to a lawyer, a fact confirmed in the court documents.

What transpired during those days is a blur for Benatta, but court filings say he was "spirited off" to Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, a facility normally used to house crime suspects, not immigration detainees.

Even though Benatta was cleared of terror links in November 2001, he was left to languish at the Brooklyn jail until the following April.

"There was constant abuse at that time. For instance, they hit your head, every half hour they came, they wake you," he said. "During the first month I wasn't allowed to shave or wear shoes. There was no recreation. I was locked up 24 hours, with a light 24 hours. When they escort you outside, they hit your head, they twist your hands, they step on the shackles sometimes, they want to trip you," he said.

Benatta also said jail guards wrote the letters `WTC' on his cell door to mark his connection to the World Trade Centre investigation.

In 2004, Benatta's allegations of abuse in custody were presented to a human rights panel of the United Nations by attorneys of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The group later accused the Bush administration of subjecting him to eight months of a "high security prison regime ... that could be described as torture."

"I ran from my country, where I was persecuted over there and there was threats against my life," he said. "I was expecting to come here and find America or Canada, they open their arms to me. I came here to forget what happened to me back home ... and get on with my life."

A federal magistrate who looked into Benatta's claims wrote in 2003 that he had been "held in custody under harsh conditions which can be said to be `oppressive.'" He recommended that Benatta be released, saying he had been "undeniably deprived of his liberty."

The fact that Benatta had been held on alleged immigration charges after he was cleared of terror links prompted the magistrate to call the prosecution's case a "ruse," a "sham" and a "charade."

"The FBI would have been derelict in its duty if it did not pursue an investigation of the defendant after the Canadian authorities contacted the U.S. officials on Sept. 12, 2001," he wrote, adding: "Absent due process, the end cannot justify the means no matter how well or good intentioned the parties may be, for as the adage teaches, `the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'"

In spite of the magistrate's recommendations, Benatta was held at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility while he fought the American attempt to deport him, until last week.

"I was believing they just locked me down and threw the keys away," he said.

Now, Benatta is staying at a Toronto refugee shelter, where he'll remain until he gets his footing. It will probably be more than a year before he learns the outcome of his refugee claim.

He has few belongings — most were lost when he was transferred. But Benatta has few complaints about his current digs. "It's better than the jail, that's for sure," he said.