'Just World News' with Helena Cobban: What is 'the rule of law'?

'Just World News' with Helena Cobban Info, analysis, discussion-- to build a more just world
« Steven Vincent plot thickens \| JWN front page \| CSM column on Gaza » What is 'the rule of law'? Posted by Helena Cobban August 10, 2005 11:02 PM EST \| Link Filed in Human rights The rule of law: In a democracy, does it apply to everyone, including the highest in the land? Lawyers for Maher Arar argue that it should. Arar is the Canadian citizen who was "rendered" to Syria by the Bush administration when he was passing through New York's Kennedy airport in September 2002. He's been seeking redress from the US government in a New York courtroom, for the foul torture he was subjected to as a result of that rendering. (The term "rendering" is used for when slaughter-houses boil down excess animal products to make tallow, glue, etc. For that that reason I find it approproately distasteful as the word for what happens to the phsyical bodies of people treated in this atrocious way by the US authorities and their partners-in-torture in other countries.) In that same article from the Toronto Star about Arar's case, Justice Department lawyer Mary Mason tried to argue that what happened to Arar was no big deal-- because "198 aliens have been sent to Syria in the past five years, 46 of them during the same year Arar was sent back to his country of birth." And that is an argument??? Arar is not testifying directly in the case because he is not allowed into the US. He is seeking a monetary settlement from the Bush administration. But, his lawyer says, more importantly, he wants a U.S. court to declare that what was done to him was wrong and "will never happen again." Good for the Toronto Star covering the story. Bad for the US MSM that hasn't been. Hat-tip to a good friend for sending it to me. « Steven Vincent plot thickens \| JWN front page \| CSM column on Gaza » Comments Comment from... Judy, at August 11, 2005 12:05 AM: The Canadian press has, indeed, been covering the Arar case. Arar and his wife (who ran for parliament in the last election) are to be commended for their insistence that there be a public inquiry. As the Canadian ambassador to the US said, there are any number of issues that appear in the US news for a day or so that, in Canada, would bring down the government. If only the Bush administration were subject to that level of accountability. Thanks for including this case in your blog, Helena. Comment from... john, at August 11, 2005 07:38 AM: Lufkin, Texas editorial: "We understand that the newly renamed "war on terror" calls for special measures. But holding people without charges or access to an attorney and shipping them off to be tortured runs counter to all we hold dear. It is, frankly, un-American." Well, maybe not in this day and age - America seems to be redefining itself, frankly. Where is the idealistic younger generation? Where is the student protest of the 60s? Do the voices of elderly - oops, mature - Quakers really count for anything against the tactics of the far-right Republican machine? Comment from... john, at August 11, 2005 07:58 AM: I mean, excuse my ignorance, but aren't the Democratic Party now just Republicans in sheep's clothing? Where's the organised opposition? Looks like a one party state to me. Comment from... Truesdell, at August 11, 2005 12:33 PM: in the final analysis, the public - not the Democrats or Republicans - will have the final say as to where to strike the balance between preserving our civil liberties and keeping us safe...This just happens to be the hottest issue in the UK post June 7. Comment from... Quest, at August 11, 2005 12:34 PM: If only Mohammed Atta had been rendered to Egypt just as Mr. Arar was to Syria... If the Syrians run a torture system that is the bigger problem to scream about, not that the US sent a Syrian subject back to Syria just as the US sends Mexicans back to Mexico every hour of every day. Q. Comment from... Quest, at August 11, 2005 12:44 PM: How timely, the Brits just rendered Abu Qatada to Jordan, from AP: He has been described by British officials as bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe" and allegedly was an inspiration for Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta. The detentions were another indication of the dramatic impact that last month's terror bombings have had in a country where radical Muslims had found something of a haven. Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans last week to get tough with religious extremists. Abu Qatada spent three years in a high security British prison without being charged under anti-terror powers introduced after the Sept. 11 attacks, but he was released in March after Britain's highest court ruled the legislation breached human rights. He was swiftly re-arrested under new anti-terror measures that allow suspects to be electronically tagged, kept under curfew, denied the use of telephones or the Internet and barred from meeting outsiders, even if no charges are filed. Home Secretary Charles Clarke gave the 10 foreigners detained Thursday a "notice of intention to deport," the Home Office said. "The circumstances of our national security have changed, it is vital that we act against those who threaten it," Clarke said in a statement. The detainees have five business days to appeal their deportations. Comment from... Dominic, at August 11, 2005 12:47 PM: I believe this site and this writer are one of the strongest things in the USA right now. In other words you are not just wrong, John, your words could not be more wrong. Your approach is: "Where's the organised opposition? Looks like a one party state to me." You don't think of yourself as organised, still less as an organiser. You take your complaint, of course, to the strongest available character, which is Helena. It's a back-handed compliment. I'm glad everything's working now, Helena. Long live the Quakers! Comment from... Shirin, at August 11, 2005 12:50 PM: Dear Quest, Try at least to get your facts straight. Maher Arar is a Canadian citizen. The US did not send a Syrian "subject" back to Syria, they sent a Canadian citizen to Syria, and they sent him there specifically to have him tortured. If that does not bother you, then there isn't much hope. Comment from... ruben, at August 17, 2005 05:15 AM: erotic eating shemael cum @ erotic ebony shemale @ erotic ebony hemale @ erotic ebony shimale @ erotic ebony shemle @ erotic ebony sheemale @ erotic ebony shemele @ erotic ebony shemael @ erotic ebony shemale clip @ erotic ebony hemale clip @ erotic ebony shimale clip @ erotic ebony shemle clip @ erotic ebony sheemale clip @ erotic ebony shemele clip @ erotic ebony shemael clip @ erotic ebony shemale cock @ erotic ebony hemale cock @ erotic ebony shimale cock @ erotic ebony shemle cock @ erotic ebony sheemale cock @ erotic ebony shemele cock @ erotic ebony shemael cock @ erotic ebony shemale cok @ erotic ebony shemale cpk @ erotic ebony shemale free pic @ erotic ebony hemale free pic @ erotic ebony shimale free pic @ erotic ebony shemle free pic @ erotic ebony sheemale free pic @ erotic ebony shemele free pic @ erotic ebony shemael free pic @ erotic ebony shemale gallery @ erotic ebony hemale gallery @ erotic ebony shimale gallery @ erotic ebony shemle gallery @ erotic ebony sheemale gallery @ erotic ebony shemele gallery @ erotic ebony shemael gallery @ erotic ebony shemale jerking @ erotic ebony hemale jerking @ erotic ebony shimale jerking @ erotic ebony shemle jerking @ erotic ebony sheemale jerking @ erotic ebony shemele jerking @ erotic ebony shemael jerking @ erotic ebony shemale party @ erotic ebony hemale party @ erotic ebony shimale party @ erotic ebony shemle party @ erotic ebony sheemale party	Recent Posts on JWN • Realism, war, and pacifism (3) • Palin's performance: Insulting and very scary (28) • September 11 and the war in Afghanistan (6) • US's global dominance 'Reduced': It's nearly official! 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What is 'the rule of law'?

Posted by Helena Cobban
August 10, 2005 11:02 PM EST | Link
Filed in Human rights

The rule of law: In a democracy, does it apply to everyone, including the highest in the land?

Lawyers for Maher Arar argue that it should. Arar is the Canadian citizen who was "rendered" to Syria by the Bush administration when he was passing through New York's Kennedy airport in September 2002. He's been seeking redress from the US government in a New York courtroom, for the foul torture he was subjected to as a result of that rendering.

(The term "rendering" is used for when slaughter-houses boil down excess animal products to make tallow, glue, etc. For that that reason I find it approproately distasteful as the word for what happens to the phsyical bodies of people treated in this atrocious way by the US authorities and their partners-in-torture in other countries.)

In that same article from the Toronto Star about Arar's case, Justice Department lawyer Mary Mason tried to argue that what happened to Arar was no big deal-- because "198 aliens have been sent to Syria in the past five years, 46 of them during the same year Arar was sent back to his country of birth."

And that is an argument???

Arar is not testifying directly in the case because he is not allowed into the US. He is seeking a monetary settlement from the Bush administration. But, his lawyer says, more importantly, he wants a U.S. court to declare that what was done to him was wrong and "will never happen again."

Good for the Toronto Star covering the story. Bad for the US MSM that hasn't been. Hat-tip to a good friend for sending it to me.

Comments

Comment from... Judy, at August 11, 2005 12:05 AM:

The Canadian press has, indeed, been covering the Arar case. Arar and his wife (who ran for parliament in the last election) are to be commended for their insistence that there be a public inquiry. As the Canadian ambassador to the US said, there are any number of issues that appear in the US news for a day or so that, in Canada, would bring down the government. If only the Bush administration were subject to that level of accountability. Thanks for including this case in your blog, Helena.

Comment from... john, at August 11, 2005 07:38 AM:

Lufkin, Texas editorial:
"We understand that the newly renamed "war on terror" calls for special measures. But holding people without charges or access to an attorney and shipping them off to be tortured runs counter to all we hold dear. It is, frankly, un-American."
Well, maybe not in this day and age - America seems to be redefining itself, frankly. Where is the idealistic younger generation? Where is the student protest of the 60s?
Do the voices of elderly - oops, mature - Quakers really count for anything against the tactics of the far-right Republican machine?

Comment from... john, at August 11, 2005 07:58 AM:

I mean, excuse my ignorance, but aren't the Democratic Party now just Republicans in sheep's clothing? Where's the organised opposition?
Looks like a one party state to me.

Comment from... Truesdell, at August 11, 2005 12:33 PM:

in the final analysis, the public - not the Democrats or Republicans - will have the final say as to where to strike the balance between preserving our civil liberties and keeping us safe...This just happens to be the hottest issue in the UK post June 7.

Comment from... Quest, at August 11, 2005 12:34 PM:

If only Mohammed Atta had been rendered to Egypt just as Mr. Arar was to Syria...
If the Syrians run a torture system that is the bigger problem to scream about, not that the US sent a Syrian subject back to Syria just as the US sends Mexicans back to Mexico every hour of every day.

Comment from... Quest, at August 11, 2005 12:44 PM:

How timely, the Brits just rendered Abu Qatada to Jordan, from AP:

He has been described by British officials as bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe" and allegedly was an inspiration for Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta.

The detentions were another indication of the dramatic impact that last month's terror bombings have had in a country where radical Muslims had found something of a haven. Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans last week to get tough with religious extremists.

Abu Qatada spent three years in a high security British prison without being charged under anti-terror powers introduced after the Sept. 11 attacks, but he was released in March after Britain's highest court ruled the legislation breached human rights.

He was swiftly re-arrested under new anti-terror measures that allow suspects to be electronically tagged, kept under curfew, denied the use of telephones or the Internet and barred from meeting outsiders, even if no charges are filed.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke gave the 10 foreigners detained Thursday a "notice of intention to deport," the Home Office said.

"The circumstances of our national security have changed, it is vital that we act against those who threaten it," Clarke said in a statement. The detainees have five business days to appeal their deportations.

Comment from... Dominic, at August 11, 2005 12:47 PM:

I believe this site and this writer are one of the strongest things in the USA right now. In other words you are not just wrong, John, your words could not be more wrong.

Your approach is: "Where's the organised opposition? Looks like a one party state to me." You don't think of yourself as organised, still less as an organiser.

You take your complaint, of course, to the strongest available character, which is Helena.

It's a back-handed compliment.

I'm glad everything's working now, Helena. Long live the Quakers!

Comment from... Shirin, at August 11, 2005 12:50 PM:

Dear Quest,

Try at least to get your facts straight. Maher Arar is a Canadian citizen. The US did not send a Syrian "subject" back to Syria, they sent a Canadian citizen to Syria, and they sent him there specifically to have him tortured. If that does not bother you, then there isn't much hope.

Comment from... ruben, at August 17, 2005 05:15 AM: