Any chance Obama will take the wrongly accused Maher Arar off the terror watch list ???

[palintology]

Maher Arar (born 1970) is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who resides in Canada. He is famous for the outcry resulting from his deportation to Syria and subsequent torture, in an apparent example of the United States policy of "extraordinary rendition".<1><2><3><4>

Arar was detained during a layover at John F. Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 on his way home to Canada from a family vacation in Tunis. He was held in solitary confinement in the U.S. for nearly two weeks, questioned, and denied meaningful access to a lawyer. The U.S. Government suspected him of being a member of Al Qaeda and deported him, not to Canada, his current home, but to his native Syria, even though the nation is known to use torture on suspects.<5> He was detained in Syria for almost a year, during which time he was regularly tortured, according to the findings of the Arar Commission, until his release to Canada.<6>

The Canadian government ordered a commission of inquiry which concluded that he was tortured based upon interviews with Arar and others.<7> His statements were not taken under oath, and standards set down by the Istanbul Protocol for determining the effects of torture were not used.<8> The commission of inquiry publicly cleared Arar of any links to terrorism, and gave him a $10.5 million Canadian dollar settlement.<9> The Syrian government reports it knows of no links of Arar to terrorism.

The United States government, however, refuses to clear Arar’s name and maintains both him and his family on a watchlist. His U.S. lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights are currently pursuing his case, Arar v. Ashcroft, which seeks compensatory damages on Arar’s behalf and also a declaration that the actions of the U.S. government were illegal and violated his constitutional, civil, and international human rights. Maintenance of Mr. Arar on the watchlist helps the government's defence of the lawsuit, particularly if details are withheld for reasons of national security.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Arar

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Well, you think about it it makes sense to keep him on the list -

because even if he had nothing to do with AQ before his arrest, he's got plenty of reason to be pissed off now.










(said ironically, with due regard for his and his familty's rights)

[Every Man A King]

2. Tear up the list and throw it in the trash

Its Bullshit. Charge people with crimes if they have committed them. Done.