Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) dressed down Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last week over the case of Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen whom the U.S. seized and sent to Syria where he was tortured.
Gonzales stumbled when trying to explain why he couldn't discuss the matter, finally promising Leahy a secret briefing on the matter. Leahy still hasn't gotten the briefing, although he says he expects to have one very soon.
"The question remains why, even if there were reasons to consider [Arar] suspicious, the U.S. Government shipped him to Syria where he was tortured, instead of to Canada for investigation or prosecution," Leahy said in a statement released today, echoing the sentiments he shared with Gonzales last Thursday. "I look forward to hearing the Justice Department's answer to that question next week."
1 comment:
Gonzales did not mention that he had already sent a letter to Canadian authorities saying he had reviewed the case and decided to keep Arar on the no fly list. The Canadian minister Stockwell Day saw the evidencee and did not change his mind as to Arar's innocence.
Leahy needs to call his own inquiry into rendition and the Arar case.
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