Flyers passing through U.S. have few rights, Arar judge told
Last Updated Thu, 11 Aug 2005 11:10:12 EDT
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/08/11/arar-lawsuit050811.html?pr
int
A senior lawyer for the U.S. government has told a judge hearing a lawsuit
over Maher Arar's deportation to Syria that foreign citizens passing through
American airports have almost no rights.
At most, Mary Mason told a hearing in Brooklyn, N.Y., passengers would have
the right not to be subjected to "gross physical abuse."
The policy has implications for Canadians who head for international
destinations via big American airports in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and
other major centres.
Mason said the U.S. government is interpreting its powers in such a way that
passengers never intending to enter the U.S. connecting to international
flights at U.S. airports must prove they are no threat and could be allowed
to enter the country.
If passengers are deemed to be inadmissible, they have no constitutional
rights even if later taken to an American prison. Mason told Judge David
Trager that's because they are deemed to be still outside the U.S., from a
legal point of view.
"Someone who's inadmissible is in the same category as the people that the
CIA snatches and grabs from other countries," said Barbara Olshansky, a
lawyer for the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which is suing a
number of U.S. officials on Arar's behalf.
"You are fair game for however executive branch wants to treat you."
* FROM JAN. 22, 2004: Arar launches lawsuit against U.S. to 'clear my
name'
Mason said the interpretation means travellers can be detained without
charge, denied the right to consult a lawyer, and even refused necessities
such as food and sleep.
That's what happened to Arar, a Canadian-Syrian citizen who was stopped
while trying to board a connecting flight in New York in 2002 and accused of
having terrorist connections.
The Ottawa engineer was detained, not allowed to speak to a lawyer or the
Canadian consul, and eventually deported through Jordan to Syria, where he
claimed he was tortured while being held in prison for a year.
At most, Mason told the judge, a foreign passenger detained while travelling
through a U.S. airport might have a limited right to protection from "gross
physical abuse."
But in a motion filed this week, the U.S. Justice Department argues that
even if torture does occur, U.S. officials can't be sued under the Torture
Victims Protection Act because it only applies to foreign individuals
committing or allowing torture.
The department wants the Arar lawsuit dismissed on that basis.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to discuss the case or what the new
interpretation could mean for Canadians travelling through the United
States.
However, department spokeswoman Cynthia Magnuson issued this short
statement: "The United States does not practise torture, export torture or
condone torture."
In legal briefs written by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the
Justice Department has defined torture to mean "pain consistent with major
organ failure or death."
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