She Fought for Her Husband (wife of rendition victim Maher Arar)

[JohnyCanuck]

Mr. Arar can count himself very lucky he had such a devoted and determined wife who fought with persistence and determination to find out what had happened to her husband and then to get him back to Canada from the Syrian hell hole to which he had been deported by US authorities (with the complicity of Canadian toadies in the RCMP and CSIS). If he had been single, he might well still be rotting in a Syrian jail cell or dead, who knows.

She Fought for Her Husband, Maher Arar

Beethoven's opera Fidelio tells the story of Florestan, an innocent man who is jailed for political reasons. Leonore, his wife, sets out to find and free him. Ultimately, her love and courage prevail over the arbitrary power of the state.

Monia Mazigh is Canada's Leonore. In this book, she chronicles her struggle for justice, human rights and the man she loves.

Maher Arar was detained at New York's JFK Airport on September 26, 2002, while returning to Canada from a family vacation in Tunisia. After twelve days of questioning, he was deported to Jordan and then Syria -- his place of birth and, because Syria does not recognize renunciations of citizenship, one of his two countries of nationality.

Mazigh, a very capable individual who holds a PhD in finance from McGill, immediately contacted Canadian consular officials. Expecting assistance, she instead encountered a string of delays and excuses.

Mazigh then turned to politicians, some of whom -- including New Democrat Alexa McDonough and Liberal Marlene Catterall -- did their best to help. She even received a letter from then-prime minister Jean Chrétien promising that everything possible would be done. However, in post-9-11 Ottawa, the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service wielded almost as much influence as the PM. And they were keen to support the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program.

SNIP

Thanks to Mazigh, the balance between security and human rights in Canada is now nearer to where it should be. Yet much work remains to be done. RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli lost his job as a result of his role in the Arar affair. But nobody has been charged with any crime, even though complicity in torture is punishable under the Criminal Code of Canada and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

http://thetyee.ca/Books/2009/02/11/MaherArar/?utm_source=mondayheadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=160209

[JohnyCanuck]

1. kick n/t