It is encouraging to learn that Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are holding Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, ‘feet to the fire’, to demand accountability for the Bush administration’s unlawful torture policy. It is a travesty that Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, has still not received an apology from our government. Arar was seized by US officials in New York in 2002 and dispatched to Syria where he was held for more than a year and brutally tortured. Eventually, he was released and allowed to return to his native Canada.
Last year the Canadian government found Arar innocent of all charges and offered him an unconditional apology for their ill-advised collusion with US officials. Thus far, the Bush Administration has refused to offer Arar an apology and compensation for his ordeal. Predictably, Gonzales is hiding the dark deeds of this administration by bogus claims of ‘national security’. In an effort to justify its inhumane polices, the Bush Administration is now seeking to convict detainees using evidence obtained under torture. This action would make a complete mockery of our claim to be a law abiding nation. It is time Americans of all stripes demand an immediate halt to all forms of torture and CIA administered ‘black site’ dungeons.
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