Canada Concludes Maher Arar Wrongly Rendered to Syria for Torture Based on False Intelligence

Canadian inquiry conclusively determines that Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was wrongly rendered by the United States to Syria where he was tortured for nearly a year based on false intelligence provided by Canadian police. The inquiry finds Arar had no connection to terrorism and that faulty information sharing by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police led to his detention, rendition, and torture. Despite Canada’s official exoneration, apology, and $10.5 million settlement, the U.S. refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing or remove Arar from terror watch lists. His case becomes the most documented example of extraordinary rendition destroying an innocent person’s life, yet results in zero American accountability.

Arar’s ordeal begins on September 26, 2002, when U.S. immigration officials detain him during a layover at JFK Airport in New York while returning to Canada from Tunisia. Despite holding Canadian citizenship and having no criminal record, Arar is interrogated for 13 days without access to a lawyer, denied the ability to contact the Canadian consulate, and pressured to waive his rights. On October 8, 2002, U.S. authorities render him on a private jet to Jordan, then to Syria, despite his protests that he would be tortured there and his requests to be sent to Canada. The rendition is based on RCMP intelligence falsely suggesting Arar had terrorist connections—intelligence later determined to be speculative, inaccurate, and improperly shared.

In Syria, Arar is imprisoned in a grave-like cell measuring 3 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 7 feet high with no light or ventilation. He is repeatedly tortured with metal cables, threatened with electric shock, forced to sign false confessions, and held in these conditions for 10 months before being moved to a better cell. Syrian interrogators question him based on information provided by Canadian and U.S. authorities, confirming the rendition was coordinated intelligence operation. Arar repeatedly denies any terrorist connections and eventually Syrian authorities acknowledge they have no evidence against him. After nearly a year of detention and torture, Syria releases Arar and returns him to Canada in October 2003.

Canada launches a comprehensive public inquiry led by Justice Dennis O’Connor that issues a 822-page report in September 2006 completely exonerating Arar. The inquiry finds: Arar had no connection to terrorism; RCMP provided inaccurate intelligence to U.S. authorities labeling him a terrorist suspect; Canadian officials failed to object when informed of his imminent rendition to Syria; and Canadian agencies failed to press adequately for his repatriation. The report concludes Canadian officials violated Arar’s constitutional rights and contributed to his detention and torture. Canada issues an official apology and pays Arar $10.5 million in compensation. The RCMP Commissioner apologizes. Canada pushes for Arar’s removal from U.S. watch lists.

The United States refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing. Arar files suit in U.S. federal court seeking accountability and removal from terrorist watch lists. The Bush administration successfully argues for dismissal based on state secrets privilege—claiming litigation would expose sensitive intelligence relationships. Courts dismiss the case, ruling that even if Arar’s rendition and torture were illegal, he has no remedy in U.S. courts. The Obama administration continues defending the dismissal and maintaining Arar on watch lists, preventing him from entering the United States. No U.S. official faces investigation or consequences for rendering an innocent man to torture.

Arar’s case demonstrates extraordinary rendition’s complete disregard for evidence, due process, and human rights. He was sent to torture based on false intelligence that a cursory investigation would have disproven. The rendition bypassed all legal safeguards: courts, lawyers, consular notification, and asylum protections against return to torture countries. When his innocence was proven definitively by a comprehensive inquiry, the U.S. response was to hide behind state secrets and sovereign immunity rather than admit error. The case shows that rendition victims, even when completely exonerated and compensated by allied governments, cannot obtain justice in U.S. courts when the government invokes national security.

The Arar case also exposes intelligence sharing failures that fuel human rights abuses. Canadian police shared speculative, unverified intelligence with U.S. authorities who acted on it by rendering a citizen of a close ally to a country known for torture. Neither country verified the intelligence before destroying Arar’s life. The Canadian inquiry led to reforms in intelligence sharing and oversight, yet similar reforms never occurred in the United States. The message sent by Arar’s case is clear: even documented innocence and allied government protests cannot pierce the impunity shield when the U.S. claims national security justifies rendition to torture. Arar remains banned from the United States, branded a terrorist by the same government whose actions were condemned by every independent investigation. His case stands as the definitive documentation that extraordinary rendition operates beyond law, evidence, or accountability—a system where mistakes that destroy innocent lives are never acknowledged or remedied.