Arar case called difficult to crack

[struggle4progress]

An inquiry will try to begin unravelling the case of Maher Arar today -- an exercise one intelligence expert believes could leave many questions unanswered. Digging out details of any Canadian involvement in Arar's deportation and imprisonment overseas as a terrorism suspect will be a daunting challenge, said Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto history professor.
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In an opening submission to the inquiry, Arar and his lawyers accuse Canadian authorities of shoddy intelligence work, racial profiling and reliance on statements given under torture.
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The government's opening statement denies federal authorities were complicit in either racial profiling or shipping a suspected terrorist to a country known to use brutality to extract confessions.

The government, however, concedes the commission might not be able to determine precisely why Arar was detained, deported

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2004/06/21/507963.html


First witness to appear at Arar inquiry

Ward Elcock is the first witness to be called in the public inquiry into the case of Ottawa telecommunications engineer Maher Arar.

The inquiry is examining the involvement of Canadian officials in Arar's arrest, detention and deportation to his birthplace of Syria by U.S. officials in 2002.

Elcock may have specific answers about the spy agency's involvement with Arar, but the inquiry is unlikely to hear them on Monday.

The questions Elcock is expected to face will deal more generally with CSIS methods <snip>

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/20/arar040620


Arar inquiry hears from former CSIS boss

The former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said in testimony on the inquiry's first day that the spy agency is subject to stringent reviews, perhaps the toughest of any such organization in the world.
Ward Elcock, who retired a few weeks ago, noted that CSIS is under the scrutiny of two watchdogs, the auditor-general, a human rights commission and the federal access-to-information regime. He said that he think the regulatory attention has made CSIS “a much stronger organization.”

Mr. Elcock, now a senior adviser to the Privy Council Office, was lead witness at a series of initial inquiry hearings designed to explain the basic workings of CSIS, the RCMP and the division of Foreign Affairs that deals with Canadians abroad.
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Unwilling to reveal information that could diminish the ability of Canadian spy agencies to do their jobs, the federal government wants to keep much of the data under wraps.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040621.warar0621_2/BNStory/National/