Compensation for rendition

Two big pieces of news around extraordinary rendition today. Firstly, the European Court of Human Rights has ordered Macedonia to pay 60,000 euro in compensation to Khaled el-Masri for their role in his kidnap and rendition. El-Masri was a German tourist whose name was similar to that of a suspected terrorist. On that basis alone he was kidnapped and unlawfully detained by Macedonian security forces, before being bundled onto a US jet and flown to a black site in Afghanistan, where he was tortured. When the US realised its mistake, they dumped him by a roadside in Albania, with no way of getting home. Its the first time the ECHR has held a European country legally responsible for its role in a rendition, and it sets a precedent for them to do the same for countries like Sweden, Italy and the UK, who rendered people, and Poland, which hosted a CIA torture centre.

Secondly, the UK has settled with Sami al-Saadi, the Libyan dissident they rendered back into the clutches of the Gaddafi regime. Al-Saadi and his family were abducted from Hong Kong and flown back to Libya. His family were released after two months, but al-Saadi was tortured for six years. The UK has paid out £2.2 million for this, probably to avoid the threat of discovery, which could result in the release of classified information (such as, oh, the name of the government Minister who authorised the operation, and the names of those who planned it, allowing them to be held politically and criminally liable). While there's still a criminal investigation, I have no faith in the British police's ability to properly investigate those in power. The establishment protects its own, even if they have to spend millions of pounds of public money to do so.

While compensation is owned to the victims, real justice will only come from criminal prosecutions of those responsible. Sadly, that's unlikely to happen - power is hardly going to hold itself to account. Which means that we'll see a repeat of this crime. Only when Ministers and officials know in no uncertain terms that it is criminal, that they will be identified and punished, that they will go to jail and their friends and families will know that they are the sorts of vicious sociopaths who actively collude in torture, will this stop.

Justice for Khaled el-Masri

In 2003, Khaled el-Masri, a German car-salesman, was kidnapped by the CIA in Macedonia. He was rendered to a CIA's secret CIA prison in Afghanistan for interrogation, during which he was beaten, tortured, and raped. Why? Because the CIA couldn't spell; they thought he was Khalid al-Masri, al-Qaeda mastermind. When they realised their mistake after four months of torture, they dumped him on a roadside in Albania without funds to return home, let alone an apology.

Now, the Macedonian government is going on trial before the European Court of Human Rights for its complicity in el-Masri's kidnapping and torture:

The grand chamber of the European court of human rights in Strasbourg began hearing a case brought by el-Masri's lawyers which alleges a breach of his European Convention rights to liberty and freedom from torture.

Several other European states are expected to face proceedings before the European court as more details emerge of complicity in acts committed during the US's post-9/11 counter-terrorism operations.

The Macedonian government has insisted that while its police did detain el-Masri, he was later permitted to leave the country for Kosovo. That claim is expected to be contradicted at court by a statement from a former Macedonian government minister.

[...]

Inquiries by the Council of Europe and the German Bundestag have also largely corroborated el-Masri's account. In December 2010, US diplomatic cables posted on the internet by WikiLeaks showed that American diplomats persuaded Germany not to seek the extradition of several US officials allegedly involved in el-Masri's rendition, following an investigation by the Bavarian state prosecutor's office.

Its a civil case, so no-one will go to jail. But it will mean that the truth about this crime will finally be officially acknowledged. And that at least will be some justice.

Justice for rendition II

Last year, an Italian judge issued arrest warrants for 22 members of a CIA snatch squad over the kidnapping and rendition to torture of Osama Mustafa Hassan. Now the Germans are getting into the act too, with Munich prosecutors ordering the arrest of 13 suspected CIA agents believed responsible for the abduction and rendition of Khaled al-Masri from Macedonia in 2003 on charges of abduction and grievous bodily harm.

While it would be nice if some of these people were put on trial, I doubt it will ever happen. The US is refusing to cooperate with the investigation, and will not extradite their own, even on serious charges of kidnapping someone and sending them to be tortured. But it does mean that none of these agents will be taking any holidays outside the US in future, and it sends a clear message to the US government that rendition from Europe will no longer be tolerated.

No justice for rendition

In 2004, Khaled el-Masri travelled to Macedonia for a holiday. While there, he was kidnapped, rendered, and tortured by the CIA because he had "a suspicious name". After five months of interrogation in Afghanistan by US agents, he was dumped in Albania without a passport, and left to fend for himself. So, he did what anyone would do in that situation: he sued, alleging that he had suffered "prolonged arbitrary detention, torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment". Now, a US judge has thrown the case out - but not because it is meritless or unsupported by the evidence. Instead, the case has been dismissed because allowing it to be brought might endanger "national security". So, the US can kidnap you, detain you, torture you, and then deny you any justice under their legal system for doing so, despite it being clearly illegal. And they wonder why people become terrorists...

"A suspicious name"

What does it take to be kidnapped and rendered to the CIA's secret gulag as a suspected terrorist? Surprisingly little. According to an article in today's Washington Post, sometimes all it takes is a suspicious name.

Khaled Masri, a German citizen, was arrested in 2003 while entering Macedonia. The eager-to-please Macedonian security forces (the same security forces who had been murdering illegal immigrants and claiming they were "terrorists" in an effort to impress their new American friends) held him at gunpoint in a motel while waiting for the CIA to make up its mind what to do with him. Finally, after 23 days of illegal detention, he was handcuffed, blindfolded, and rendered to Afghanistan for "interrogation" - essentially on the basis of a hunch from a CIA officer. That hunch turned out to be wrong; after two months in Afghanistan (during which he was kicked, beaten, starved, and threatened with death), it was clear that Masri was not a terrorist, and that the CIA had the wrong man. Despite this, they detained him for a further three months while they made up their mind what to do with him (and how to cover up their mistake), before dumping him by a roadside in Albania. Their explanation?

On the day of his release, the prison's director, who Masri believed was an American, told Masri that he had been held because he "had a suspicious name," Masri said in an interview.

So, rendition and five month's detention for having a suspicious name. Comrade Stalin would be proud.