America & The Freedom to Torture Uninhibited

A decision came down yesterday in Arar v Ashcroft from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal. This case was about an innocent Canadian man (of Syrian descent) who was detained in the U.S. while changing planes at J.F.K. airport.

Apparently, the story is that TAA got word from the Canadian goverment that this man was a member of Al Qaeda (he wasn't), so the U.S. detained him for eleven days--tortured him--then sent him to Syria by way of Jordan for another few months of torture before finally releasing him.

Arar successfully sued the Canadian goverment for $9M for its role in the torture. The Canadian goverment owned up to its culpability and the Canadian courts have determined they have a role in overseeing the goverment's response to supposed terrorists.

The U.S. goverment, on the other hand, not so much.

Not only will the U.S. government not admit any wrongdoing in torturing an innocent man but the Circuit court, in its reasoning, decided that since there were no specific laws against torture, it would not intervene on this victim's behalf. "Not withstanding prolonged public debate, Congress has not prohibited the practice [of torture], imposed limits on its use, or created a cause of action for those who allege they have suffered constitutional injury as a consequence."

Outrageous! So, not only is the U.S. in a situation where its legislators deliberately and criminally deny victims' relief against their torturers, but the courts are looking to the neglect of Congress to determine that they, too, are not obligated to regulate how the U.S. treats torture victims!

The Court determined that, in theory, there was a right under the Constitution to allow victims denied habeas corpus (and subjected to heinous abuses) to claim relief, but they set the bar so high as to effectivly cut off anyone ever being successful at court.

The Court determined a victim must KNOW THE NAMES OF HER/HIS TORTURES in order to establish a claim against tortures. As the only dissenting judge pointed out, effectively the court was telling tortures to not disclose their identities to their victims in order to protect themselves from a civil claim. What a sad, sick, horrible decision. And yet, so abt to describe where America is at these days in terms of its priorities and its commitment to human rights.

Glenn Greenwald has more.