[Congressional Record: September 21, 2006 (Extensions)]
[Page E1777]



                  RESOLUTIONS OF INQUIRY ON MAHER ARAR

                                 ______


                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 20, 2006

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about Maher Arar,
whose treatment at the hands of American officials is a stain upon our
national conscience.
  During a layover in New York's JFK airport in September 2002, Mr.
Arar, who was born in Syria but who now holds Canadian citizenship, was
seized by American officials. He was held without access to a lawyer
for two weeks in the United States, then transferred briefly to Jordan,
and finally to Syria. Mr. Arar was imprisoned in Syria for 10 months,
most of the time in a dark underground dungeon the size of a closet. He
was tortured both physically and psychologically, and forced to make
false confessions, including that he had attended an al-Qaeda terrorist
training camp in Afghanistan. Maher Arar was finally released a year
after he was seized in New York, never having been charged with any
crime.
  When he was in American custody in New York, Maher Arar demanded to
speak to a lawyer. He was denied. He demanded to speak to a judge. He
was denied. He asked the American officials not to send him to Syria,
as he knew he would be tortured there. Of course, the Americans did not
need to be told that Syria routinely tortures its prisoners, as the
U.S. State Department lists Syria in its annual Human Rights report as
a country that practices torture. Yet Maher Arar was sent to Syria for
interrogation, where he was brutally tortured, just as the American
officials involved in his rendition must have known he likely would be.
  Maher Arar was the victim of the Bush administration's program of
``extraordinary rendition,'' whereby prisoners in American custody are
sent abroad for interrogation in other countries, sometimes to places
such as Syria and Uzbekistan that are known to routinely practice
torture. This is a disgusting practice that brings dishonor to the
United States of America, and ultimately endangers our troops in the
field by validating the use of torture all over the world.
Extraordinary rendition is nothing more than the outsourcing of
torture, and this program must come to an immediate halt. The Torture
Outsourcing Prevention Act, which I introduced in this House over a
year and a half ago, would end the practice of extraordinary rendition.
But the Republican leadership has refused to bring the Torture
Outsourcing Prevention Act to the floor for a vote.
  Mr. Speaker, we don't have many details on the case of Maher Arar,
because the Bush administration has refused to divulge any information
on its program of extraordinary rendition and the rubber-stamp
Republican Congress have refused to conduct any meaningful oversight
over this program. Now that the President has admitted that the CIA
operated secret prisons all over the world, the Congress must step up
to the plate and conduct true oversight on the President's program of
extraordinary rendition.
  This week, the official Canadian inquiry into the case of Maher Arar,
which focused on the role that Canadian officials played in his
rendition, released its report. The Arar Commission report clears Maher
Arar of any wrongdoing, and concludes that he was indeed transferred to
Syria by the United States, where he was tortured. American authorities
were invited to testify before the Arar Commission, but refused.
  Canada has now completed its investigation into the injustice done to
Mr. Arar by Canadian officials, who without any evidence of wrongdoing
told the U.S. he had connections with terrorist organizations. Mr.
Speaker, now this Congress must initiate our own investigation into the
role that U.S. officials played in this affair. We must know the truth
of what happened to Maher Arar, why it happened, upon whose orders, and
upon what justification.
  That is why I have today introduced five separate Resolutions of
Inquiry requesting copies of all documents in the possession of the
United States Government that may relate, in any way, to Maher Arar.
These five Resolutions direct the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Attorney General
to provide Congress with all documents and records in their possession
relating to Maher Arar. The same request is made of the President, in
order to ensure that any documents in the possession of the White House
or the Intelligence Community are also provided forthwith.
  The Congress, and the American people, must learn the truth of what
was done to Maher Arar. I urge my colleagues to support these
Resolutions of Inquiry.

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