Justice for all

The Canadian government acted towards these three Canadians--Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin--in essentially the same fashion as it did towards Maher Arar. Mr Arar, largely as a result of much greater public attention to his case, in the end received an apology from the current government and very substantial compensation indeed; why not these three too?

[...]

The inquiry, headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci, examined the roles played by CSIS, the RCMP and Foreign Affairs in the cases of Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin - who were each detained and tortured in Syria.

Iacobucci's report confirmed the torture and found Canadian officials shared intelligence information that in some instances contributed to their detention and subsequent mistreatment, but he did not make a direct link between the torture and Canadian officials, nor did he assign specific blame to any individuals or agencies for what happened to the men.

"I found no evidence that any of these officials were seeking to do anything other than carry out conscientiously the duties and responsibilities of the institutions of which they were a part. It is neither necessary nor appropriate that I make findings concerning the actions of any individual Canadian official, and I have not done so," Iacobucci said at a news conference after the report was released.

[...]

In the case of Elmaati, a Toronto truck driver who was detained in Syria in 2001 and later transferred to Egypt where he was held for two years, Iacobucci concluded that information shared by Canadian officials led indirectly to his detention and that his mistreatment resulted indirectly from the actions of Canadian officials. There were a number of "deficiencies" in the actions of Foreign Affairs officials, the report said.

Almalki, who was held in Syria for 22 months beginning in 2002, never received a consular visit during his detention and Foreign Affairs failed to provide consular services in four specific ways, the report said. The actions of Canadian officials did not directly result in his detention, said Iacobucci, but he was unable to confirm if their actions indirectly resulted in it. He did, however, find that the actions of the RCMP - sharing information with American authorities and sending questions to Syrian officials - indirectly resulted in his torture.

Nureddin was detained in Syria in 2003 for 33 days and, like Almalki, received no consular visits, but the report said Foreign Affairs responded promptly and made efforts to gain access to him. The inquiry found that CSIS and the RCMP shared information about him with several foreign agencies that likely contributed to his detention and mistreatment.

[...]

Iacobucci was not asked by the government to make recommendations and he would not comment on whether he believes the men should get compensation from the federal government. Arar was paid $10 million following his ordeal...

Meanwhile, an Ottawa Citizen editorial summarizes the above facts--and then has this willfully misleading nonsense; all the events took place under the Liberals:

These are bureaucratic failings, but they're also political. The Conservative government has made a great deal of its concern for human rights, yet when it comes to protecting Canadians, its resolve softens.

It was the Conservative government that instituted the two inquiries.

Raphael Alexander, for his part, has a different view:

Where's My $Apology$

More here from Wesley Wark, one of the few Canadians outside government with real expertise in the intelligence/security field.

Mark C.

Update: Tarek Fatah makes a very good point about the real culprits:

Blame the torturers

That three Muslim citizens were tortured is a great injustice -- but they and their supporters should focus their anger on Syria and Egypt, rather than Canada

Here's the Iacobucci report.

Posted by markc at October 23, 2008 06:42 PM