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A Letter to Prime Minister Chrétien
Request for Public Inquiry into Maher Arar's
Case
24 November 2003
The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
November 24, 2003
Dear Prime Minister,
Several weeks ago, Maher Arar shared his horrifying testimony of
being arrested, tortured and detained without charge or legal assistance
for over a year in a Syrian jail. Canadians are deeply moved by
his story, and deeply disturbed that a Canadian’s human rights
were so gravely breached.
KAIROS, a coalition of Canadian churches and church-related organizations,
is deeply concerned about Mr. Arar’s horrifying ordeal, and
the major implications it has for the civil and human rights of
Canadian citizens. Canadians need to know more about the role our
government agencies may have played in Mr. Arar’s arrest and
deportation while returning to Canada via New York.
KAIROS supports Amnesty International, and many individuals and
organizations in Canada, in their call for an independent public
inquiry into this matter. Your current position is that an investigation
by the RCMP Public Complaints Commission into Mr. Arar’s case
is sufficient. Such a response is widely acknowledged to be inadequate,
especially given the serious nature of the issues at stake. The
violations against Mr. Arar’s rights are of such gravity that
your government must use the most thorough and impartial tool possible
in the investigation. The limited jurisdiction of the RCMP Public
Complaints Commission, which looks into possible RCMP wrong-doing,
would preclude examination of the many other actors involved, such
as CSIS and CIC, and the role of DFAIT, consular staff, the United
States and other governments.
Mr. Arar and his family will be scarred for life by his inhumane
treatment. Canada also is harmed. Our fundamental freedoms in Canada
include protection against arbitrary detention, any form of torture,
and denial of due legal process. When these rights are violated
for any Canadian, they are violated for all of us. Moreover, our
integrity as a nation depends on our country being an example of
the respect for human rights we call for around the world.
Canada must ensure that we have not allowed, and will never allow,
direct or indirect complicity in the use of torture. On December
10th, citizens and countries around the world will commemorate the
1948 signing of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration
of Human Rights which Canada has signed. Canada is also a signatory
to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and party to the International
Criminal Court.
Mr. Prime Minister, we ask you to immediately call a public inquiry
into the circumstances of any possible Canadian complicity in the
arrest and deportation of Maher Arar. In this way, Canada can begin
the work of ensuring that such a disaster will never happen again.
I look forward to your reply.
Yours truly,
Mary Corkery,
Executive Director
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