Another Supreme sham

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Torture Appeal

By DAVID STOUT

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — A German citizen who said he was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency and tortured in a prison in Afghanistan lost his last chance to seek redress in court today when the Supreme Court declined to consider his case.

The justices’ refusal to take the case of Khaled el-Masri let stand a March 2 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va. That court upheld a 2006 decision by a federal district judge, who dismissed Mr. Masri’s lawsuit on the grounds that trying the case could expose state secrets.

The Supreme Court’s refusal, without comment, to take the case was not surprising, given that a three-judge panel for the Fourth Circuit was unanimous. Nevertheless, today’s announcement prompted immediate expressions of dismay, and it could exacerbate tensions between the United States and Germany.

The Fourth Circuit acknowledged the seriousness of the issues when it dismissed Mr. Masri’s suit. “We recognize the gravity of our conclusions that el-Masri must be denied a judicial forum for his complaint,” Judge Robert B. King wrote in March. “The inquiry is a difficult one, for it pits the judiciary’s search for truth against the executive’s duty to maintain the nation’s security.”

The ordeal of Mr. Masri, who is of Lebanese descent and was apparently the victim of mistaken identity, was the most extensively documented case of the C.I.A.’s controversial practice of “extraordinary rendition,” in which terrorism suspects are abducted and sent for interrogation to other countries, including some in which torture is practiced.

The episode has already caused hard feelings between the United States and Germany, whose diplomatic ties were already frayed because of differences over the war in Iraq. Mr. Masri’s lawyer in Germany, Manfred Gnijdic, said the high court’s refusal to consider the case sends a message that the United States expects other nations to act responsibly but refuses to take responsibility for its own actions.

“We are very disappointed,” Mr. Gnijdic said in an interview today with The Associated Press. “It will shatter all trust in the American justice system.”

Mr. Masri contended in his suit that he was seized by local law enforcement officials while vacationing in Macedonia on New Year’s Eve 2003. At the time, he was 41 years old and an unemployed car salesman.

“They asked a lot of questions — if I have relations with Al Qaeda, Al Haramain, the Islamic Brotherhood,” Mr. Masri said in a 2005 interview with The New York Times. “I kept saying no, but they did not believe me.”

After 23 days, he said, he was turned over to C.I.A. operatives, who flew him to a secret C.I.A. prison in Kabul. There, Mr. Masri said, he was kept in a small, filthy cell and was shackled, drugged and beaten while being interrogated about his supposed ties to terrorist organizations. At the end of May 2004, Mr. Masri said, he was released in a remote part of Albania without ever having been charged with a crime.

The C.I.A. has never acknowledged any role in Mr. Masri’s detention. But investigations in Europe, as well as news reports in the United States, have bolstered his version of events. German prosecutors issued arrest warrants in January for 13 suspected C.I.A. agents believed to have taken part in the operation that swept up Mr. Masri.

As a practical matter, it is extremely unlikely that President Bush would ever agree to turn the 13 agents over to German authorities. But the warrants against them could hinder their ability to travel in Europe.

When the Fourth Circuit dismissed Mr. Masri’s suit, Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the action “truly unbelievable” and “reminiscent of third-world countries.”

The Constitution Project, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to focus attention on constitutional issues, called the Supreme Court’s refusal to take up the case “profoundly disappointing.”

“The government’s treatment of Mr. El-Masri has been appalling, and the executive branch should not be permitted to hide its mistakes behind the so-called state secrets privilege,” said the organization’s senior counsel, Sharon Bradford Franklin. “Now that the court has declined to consider this issue, Congress should immediately take up legislation to reform the state secrets privilege and clarify that it does not authorize unchecked power to disregard individual rights.”

Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, who has introduced legislation to ban extraordinary rendition, said today that “the Bush administration reflexively responds with the ‘state secrets’ defense whenever it is caught bending or simply ignoring the law.”

For his part, Mr. Masri was arrested by the German police in May on suspicion of setting a fire that caused $675,000 in damage to a market in a Bavarian town. His lawyer said Mr. Masri had had a dispute with the store, and that his action was the result of not receiving psychological counseling that he had sought. A German judge ordered him held in a psychiatric ward.

Original article posted here.

It's a good thing that Germany doesn't care about the CIA kidnapping one of its citizens

Rendition - CIA impunity again goes unchallenged

The authorities in Germany have decided not to seek the extradition of 13 US citizens suspected of being involved in the abduction and rendition of German citizen Khaled el-Masri. The 13 includes at least 10 operatives of the CIA.

Khaled el-Masri, a 44-year-old German of Lebanese origin, was arrested and unlawfully detained while on a trip to Macedonia in December 2003. He was handed over to US agents and secretly flown to Afghanistan as part of the US programme of secret detentions and renditions -- the illegal transfer of people between states outside of any judicial process.

A case of mistaken identity

After five months of alleged ill-treatment, Khaled el-Masri was flown to an airport in Albania and released after the US authorities apparently realized they had the wrong man. On 25 June 2007, public prosecutors in Munich asked for the extradition of 13 US citizens, of whom at least 10 are thought to be CIA operatives.
Related documents
Report: USA: Law and executive disorder. President gives green light to secret detention program



However, the German Ministry of Justice, following informal discussions with US officials, has decided not to forward the extradition requests to the US authorities. German courts will be unable to hold accountable individuals against whom there is evidence of involvement in Khaled el-Masri’s abduction, unlawful detention and alleged torture and ill-treatment.

Threatening to facilitate impunity

The failure of the German government to seek this extradition threatens to facilitate impunity for alleged perpetrators of human rights violations, including torture, in the context of the "war on terror". Amnesty International has repeatedly called on all European governments to collaborate with judicial investigations into renditions that have taken place in Europe.

Amnesty International urges the German government to reverse its decision and forward these extradition requests, as an important step to bringing those responsible for human rights violations to justice. Governments should collaborate in ending human rights violations, not in perpetrating them or in facilitating impunity.

Original article posted here.

Pesky German Lawmakers annoy Angela Merkel by actually wanting to follow the law.

Bid to arrest CIA rendition team splits German cabinet

Berlin - A German prosecutor's request for the arrest of 10 US men suspected of forming a CIA rendition team has split the German government, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

A parliamentary inquiry in Berlin has heard Lebanese-born German national, Khaled el-Masri, testify that he was detained in Macedonia and held in a jail in Afghanistan for several months in 2004 on suspicion of terrorism.

The Munich prosecutor has asked Berlin to formally request US police to arrest and extradite 10 alleged agents.

Der Spiegel said senior ministers debated the issue in Chancellor Angela Merkel's office on Wednesday, with Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble opposed and arguing that the request would ruin German-US intelligence cooperation.

Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries had argued that the request should be passed on to Washington to formally complete the inquiry.

An official of her ministry, which has the final say, confirmed Saturday that the issue was still the subject of 'intense discussion.'

Der Spiegel said US diplomats have objected vocally to the whole German inquiry into el-Masri's ordeal.

The practice of extraordinary rendition - arresting people outside the United States and holding them abroad beyond the reach of US courts - has caused fierce controversy in Europe.

German law allows prosecution of crimes against German nationals anywhere in the world, though no German officials really expect the US to actually extradite its own agents for trial.

Original article posted here.

The Story of Khalid el-Masri has just gotten more sad

Ex-CIA detainee runs amok

A former CIA detainee has been arrested and sent to a psychiatric hospital after allegedly attacking a wholesale market in Germany.

Khalid el-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent who was captured by the CIA in Macedonia and imprisoned in Afghanistan, was arrested at the scene of a fire in the market in Neu-Ulm, German police said on Thursday.

El Masri in December at National Press Club

"We don't know the motive for his offence," Alfons Wagner, a police inspector, said.

"But we know that el-Masri was admitted to the psychiatric ward of the hospital."

El-Masri had been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to the entrance of the market after having destroyed its glass door, a police statement said.

Smoke and water caused around $680,000 in damage.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, quoted el-Masri's lawyer, Manfred Gnjidic, as saying that el-Masri had had an argument with the market about an electronic device he had bought there earlier.

El-Masri was captured by CIA agents while attempting to enter Macedonia on New Year's eve 2003 after being mistakenly identified as an associate of the September 11 hijackers.

He was subsequently flown to a CIA-run prison known as the "salt pit" in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he said he was beaten and sexually abused during five months in captivity.

After his release in May 2004, German prosecutors ordered the arrest of 13 CIA agents who were believed to have participated in his capture.

In March, a US federal appeals court refused to examine a lawsuit brought by el-Masri, ruling that the case could jeopardise national security by disclosing state secrets.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has said that the US had acknowledged making a mistake with el-Masri.

Original article posted here.

Strong language from our ally and defending the rule of law (but more symbolic than substantive)

Munich to US: "Don't Send Your CIA Thugs out into Europe's Streets"

In a historic first, German prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 13 suspected CIA agents thought to have illegally kidnapped a German citizen as part of the war on terror. The decision has been universally welcomed by German commentators.

The decision by the public prosecutor's office in Munich to issue arrest warrants against 13 suspected CIA agents in connection with the illegal kidnapping of Lebanese-born German citizen Khaled el-Masri is unlikely to have won Germany many friends in the United States. But the move has been universally welcomed in Germany, where observers are keen to see justice done.

DDP

The decision to issue arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents in the el-Masri rendition case has been welcomed in Germany.

Munich-based Bavarian senior state public prosecutor Christian Schmidt-Sommerfeld said in a statement Wednesday that the warrants had been issued in the last few days. He said the agents are being sought on suspicion of abducting and wrongfully imprisoning el-Masri as well as causing him grievous bodily harm. Thirteen suspected CIA agents are listed in the warrants, although the names given are thought to be aliases.

Munich prosecutor August Stern told the German news agency DPA Thursday that no extradition requests had yet been issued in connection with the arrest warrants because they do not know in which country the suspects are currently residing. When German judicial authorities find out where the suspects are, they will petition the country in question to arrest the suspects and extradite them, he said.

Lebanese-born German citizen Khaled el-Masri is said to have been abducted in a case of the controversial CIA practice known as "extraordinary renditions," which involves kidnapping terrorist suspects and flying them to third countries to be interrogated.

CIA agents abducted el-Masri in Macedonia at the end of 2003. After being handed over to the CIA and flown to Afghanistan, he claims he was tortured and accused of collusion with the Sept. 11 hijackers. He says he was held for four months before being released without any charges on a roadside in Albania. Italy has also issued arrest warrants for suspected CIA agents in a separate renditions case.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier tried to play down the significance of the warrants Thursday, as he left to travel to the US for talks on the Middle East. Asked if he thought US-German cooperation on anti-terrorist activities would be hampered by the warrants, he replied, "No, I don't believe so," according to the Associated Press. He added, "The fact of the arrest warrants itself is a matter for the justice system that we can't comment further on politically at the moment."

Steinmeier himself is under pressure over another similar case involving Murat Kurnaz, a German-born Turkish citizen who was held for over four years in Guantanamo Bay. Steinmeier is accused of not doing enough to ensure the release of Kurnaz, who is considered to be innocent. The case is currently being investigated by a parliamentary committee.

Germany's newspapers Thursday universally welcomed the arrest warrants, proclaiming them as a triumph of the rule of law -- while admitting that the suspects are unlikely to ever stand trial.

The business daily Handelsblatt writes:

"The new beginning for trans-Atlantic relations has often been declared: People believe Chancellor Angela Merkel ... can act very differently towards Washington than her predecessor Gerhard Schröder. The arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents in the el-Masri case show that this is not the whole truth. It doesn't matter how much Merkel likes George W. Bush's government -- that is just one facet of the complex relations between the two countries. Another facet is the imperative of the law."

"For the first time in Germany's history, arrest warrants for CIA agents have been issued ... The government in Washington will not be bothered about the material consequences. But it will be annoyed about the damage to its image. ..."

"It's not about robust action in the war on terror, as is sometimes euphemistically said, but about criminal offenses. And so long as action is not taken against cases of this kind, or if they are even repeated, they will be a millstone around the neck of German-American relations."

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"Seldom has an arrest warrant had less of a chance of succeeding than in the case of the el-Masri abduction. Nobody can expect that el-Masri's kidnappers from the ranks of the CIA will ever go on trial in Germany. The US will never extradite its agents. ..."

"Nevertheless, the arrest warrants ... against 13 US citizens are worth more than the paper they are written on. They are a clear sign that a state based on the rule of law will not tolerate lawless spaces, even in the war on terror. And they are a signal -- if a somewhat late one -- that Germany will not allow its most important ally in the war on terror to do just anything, even if it causes diplomatic tension ..."

"Because the hands of the prosecutors are tied, politicians are now responsible for everything else. ... It's time to take a clear stand. Even if the Americans don't want to hear it, the German government has to say clearly that it supports the arrest warrants and sharply condemns the behavior of the US."

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"There's no doubt that the Americans in the war on terror gave far too free a reign to not only their imaginations but also to their agents who were trained to hunt Islamists. In the first two years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, in which then-chancellor (Gerhard Schröder) pledged his "unconditional solidarity" with the US, security authorities in Germany and other European countries gave this fight their all-too-credulous support. ... German authorities did not, to say the least, check very hard if this fight was being pursued with means which could be justified legally.

"The current parliamentary investigation (into renditions) will make all German authorities aware that even in situations of acute threat ... the rights of sovereign states and most of all the personal rights of citizens can not be neglected. To take this lesson to heart is all the more important because the criminal investigation into the el-Masri case by the Munich public prosecutor's office has little chance of succeeding, despite the arrest warrants which have now been issued."

The left-wing Die Tageszeitung writes:

"The arrest warrants allow the hope that at least the judiciary still has an idea of what is legal or not. After more than five years of the war on terror and its collateral damage, that is a piece of good news."

"Just how seriously the German government, on the other hand, takes the rule of law will be seen by whether they really send an extradition request to the US or not. True, it wouldn't have any chance of succeeding, but it would at least lend weight to the conviction that the fight against terror has to follow the principles of the rule of law."

The left-of-center Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"The arrest warrants ... deal the CIA an unexpected and heavy blow. ... It's true that the American suspects will never stand before a court, but what's more important is the message that the arrest warrants from Munich and Milan send: Even in times of danger from terrorism, the great ally is not allowed to simply send its thugs out into Europe's streets. The general public won't put up with it, and neither will the judiciary. The kidnappings have seriously damaged the reputation of both the CIA and the US. ..."

"It is too early to celebrate the victory of the rule of law over the criminal intelligence officers. The judiciary has stuck up for the law. Whether the state and therefore the German government will also do so is another question entirely. Berlin must insist that the kidnappers are extradited or put on trial in the US. But that much courage is not very likely."

Original article posted here.