Dark days, indeed – the tortured sign of four

by SHEEMA KHAN; September 22, 2008 - The Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080919....

Shut Up and Let Me Go, the title of the Ting Tings hit, is one way to describe the behaviour of a myriad of government and security agencies toward the four Canadian citizens who were imprisoned and tortured by the Syrians. That's right - four. Not just Maher Arar. But Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin as well.

While Canadians expressed outrage at what happened to Mr. Arar, we were led to believe that this was a unique occurrence. Yet, as human-rights activist Kerry Pither reveals in her book Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror, Mr. Arar's year in hell was part of a larger pattern of Canada's co-operation with Syrian military intelligence in the detention and interrogation of three other Canadian citizens.

Given the secrecy enveloping the federal inquiry, led by former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci, into what happened to these men, the mantle of national security is shielding the transparency and accountability of government agencies that have tremendous power to probe into our lives.

Ms. Pither spent extensive time with the four men, reviewing the timelines of their experiences with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP and Syrian military intelligence. While Mr. Arar was shipped off by the Americans, Mr. Almalki, Mr. El Maati and Mr. Nureddin were each detained by Syrian officials during family visits. Ms. Pither calls these "opportunistic renditions" facilitated by Canada.

All four were under investigation in Canada, held in the same notorious Far' Falastin prison near Damascus, interrogated by the same team of thugs, and asked questions that could have only come from Canada. They endured unspeakable violence, providing false confessions in a bid to end the torture. Yet, not one of them has been charged in Syria - or in Canada.

On return to Canada, these four citizens suffered further indignity of a well-orchestrated smear campaign by "anonymous" officials who painted them as terrorists. Ms. Pither charges that some journalists failed to question their sources' motives and, instead, were used to help carry out the smear. No evidence has ever been publicly produced to back up these allegations. In contrast, as documented in Dark Days, there is ample evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Canadian agencies.

Piecing together the "evidence" based on public facts, Ms. Pither believes that guilt by association was the chief modus operandi. It began with the infamous Ottawa map seized from Mr. El Maati's truck at the U.S. border in August of 2001 that showed schematics of government buildings, including sites for a virus lab and atomic energy, individually numbered. As The Globe and Mail discovered, the map - numbers and all - was a standard (and outdated) government-issued map for courier services. The virus lab and atomic energy site had already been relocated.

Nonetheless, security officials engaged in their own game of "six degrees of separation," zealously connecting real and imaginary dots, and ensnaring anyone who fit the preconceived profile of an al-Qaeda wannabe. Acknowledging a lack of evidence to convict any of their suspects, they decided to "disrupt and diffuse" the so-called threat by means that often circumvented our laws.

In Ms. Pither's view, it was the political masters who set the tone for security agencies to pursue their mandate in such a sinister manner.

Despite overwhelming odds, men and women of conscience stood up to powerful government forces and demanded justice for the voiceless. Ms. Pither found her inspiration in the tenacity of hope expressed by these four men. Mr. El Maati, for instance, considers himself to be one of the "lucky ones" - he made it out alive.

Ms. Pither finds it ironic that these men have had the courage to open their lives to public scrutiny in their quest for accountability. Meantime, those responsible for Canada's program of outsourcing torture hide behind the cowardly walls of anonymity and secrecy.

As we engage in that most democratic of exercises - an election - we must examine the erosion of fundamental democratic principles in the name of national security. As the Arar case illustrates, individual Canadians do have the power to make a difference in the quest for justice. We must do the same for Messrs. Almalki, El Maati and Nureddin.