Arar inquiry seeks information from foreign countries to solve puzzle

[struggle4progress]

The Maher Arar inquiry has asked Syria, Jordan and the United States to help the commission piece together how and why the Ottawa man was deported and imprisoned.

Formal letters are winging their way to the three countries by diplomatic pouch and all "will have been received by the foreign states shortly," said Kimberly Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Affairs Department.
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Commission counsel Paul Cavalluzzo said he is hopeful the countries will hand over useful material about Arar's deportation from the United States on suspicions of terrorism, his brief stay in Jordan and a subsequent 10-month ordeal in a tiny Syrian prison cell.
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Arar, 34, was detained by American authorities during a September 2002 stopover in New York as he returned from a family vacation in Tunisia.
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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/06/17/503531-cp.html


RCMP must tell open court why journalist a target of raid
Force sought to keep rationale for search of Juliet O'Neill's home, office a secret

The government won't be allowed to make in-camera arguments to the bench as it tries to maintain the secrecy of the case it presented in support of search warrants authorizing the January raids on Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill's home and office.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Lynn Ratushny made the ruling yesterday in a hearing to set the rules for the cross examination of the RCMP officer who obtained the warrants and subsequently had them sealed.

The raids were part of an RCMP investigation into leaks concerning the Maher Arar affair, which the Citizen and Ms. O'Neill claim made a mockery of constitutionally protected civil rights and freedom of the press.

The court had previously rejected the Crown's case for continued secrecy and ordered Cpl. Daniel Quirion be made available on June 30 for cross-examination on the search warrants and sealing orders.
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http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/soundoff/story.html?id=1724799a-be0e-4585-86e1-6c74c0b08b92



Spies had copies of Arar's confessions, lawyers say

Canadian spies quietly visited Syria in late 2002 and got copies of confessions made by Maher Arar under torture, the Ottawa man's lawyers say.

In a submission to the federal inquiry probing Mr. Arar's arrest and deportation to Syria, lawyers also disclose that his wife, Monia Mazigh, who is now an NDP candidate in the federal election, was questioned about him by authorities in Tunisia.

The document suggests one reason Canadian authorities took an interest in Mr. Arar was that he happened to be in the United States when terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040612/NATS12N-2/TPNational/Briefs

[struggle4progress]

1. Bet the administration stonewalls this one!