TonH
28-01-07, 09:04
Maher Arar
Timeline
Last Updated January 26, 2007
CBC News
Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria in 1970, came to Canada in 1987. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in computer engineering, Arar worked in Ottawa as a telecommunications engineer.
Arar with his daughter (file photo)
On a stopover in New York as he was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia in September 2002, U.S. officials detained Arar, claiming he has links to al-Qaeda, and deported him to Syria, even though he was carrying a Canadian passport.
When Arar returned to Canada more than a year later, he said he had been tortured during his incarceration and accused American officials of sending him to Syria knowing that they practise torture.
His wife Monia Mazigh has a PhD in financial economics and ran for the NDP in the 2004 federal election in the riding of Ottawa South. She lost. Arar and Mazigh have two young children. In the summer of 2006, the family relocated to Kamloops, B.C., where Mazigh took a teaching position at Thompson Rivers University.
Arar and his family are seeking compensation from the federal government for his abrupt deportation and imprisonment in Syria. Judge Dennis O'Connor, who conducted the inquiry into the matter, recommended in his report dated Sept. 18, 2006 that Ottawa pay up.
TIMELINE:
Jan. 26, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issues a formal apology to Maher Arar while announcing Arar will receive $12.5 million in compensation.
The package includes $10.5 million for pain and suffering, and another $2 million for Arar's legal fees.
"I sincerely hope that these words and actions will help you and your family begin a new chapter in your lives," says Harper.
The prime minister reveals Canada has sent letters to the U.S. and Syria to protest Arar's treatment.
Arar initially filed a lawsuit for $400 million, and later sought $37 million in compensation.
Jan 24, 2007
U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins fires back at Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day for Day's insistence that Arar be removed from the U.S. watch list. "It's a little presumptuous of him to say who the United States can and cannot allow into our country," Wilkins says at a news conference. "Canadian officials would rightly never tolerate any American official dictating to them who they may or may not allow into their country."
Jan. 22, 2007
In a letter to Day, U.S. officials reveal that Arar will remain on the U.S. watch list. The letter comes from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who say they have reviewed Arar's file, but find there is still sufficient evidence to justify barring him from the U.S.
Jan. 18, 2007
Day meets with Chertoff to review the Arar file. Despite new information in the file, Day says there is still nothing there to justify keeping Arar on the U.S. watch list.
"We have seen some recent (U.S.) information that has not altered our opinion on this at all," Day told reporters.
Elsewhere, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy lambastes Gonzales over the government's handling of the Arar case.
"Why is he on a government watch list if he's been found completely innocent by this Canadian commission?" Leahy asked.
The attorney general responded that the U.S. government had received assurances that Arar would not be tortured.
"We knew damn well, if he went to Canada, he wouldn't be tortured," Leahy says loudly. "We also knew damn well, if he went to Syria, he'd be tortured. And it's beneath the dignity of this country, a country that has always been a beacon of human rights, to send somebody to another country to be tortured."
Dec. 21, 2006
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promises U.S. security officials will review Arar's case. In a joint news conference with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, Rice says she has told the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security to review the matter.
Dec. 20, 2006
A U.S. security official bluntly states that the U.S. will keep its own counsel on how to handle the Arar case.
"With respect to some issues, we're going to have to respectfully but firmly go our own way and the Arar matter, at least for now, is one of those," Paul Rosenzweig, acting assistant secretary for international affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, tells reporters in Washington.
"As for the sharing of information with the Canadian government, while I do recognize that in an idealized world, we would share every bit of intelligence information with all of our partners. In the real world, that is an idealization that isn't achievable."
In response, Harper tells Sun Media that "as near as I can see, we simply have a U.S. government that won't admit it's wrong."
Dec. 12, 2006
In his second report on the Arar inquiry, Justice Dennis O'Connor recommends giving an independent body the power to review the intelligence activities of the RCMP and other security agencies.
• CBC STORY: Security agencies need independent oversight: O'Connor
Dec. 6, 2006
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli submits his resignation to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
• CBC STORY: RCMP's embattled chief quits over Arar testimony
Dec. 5, 2006
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli appears before the Commons committee on public safety and national security for a second time. He says he made a mistake when he gave inaccurate testimony about Arar's case to the committee in September.
"I believe some aspects of my prior testimony could have been more precise and more clearly stated. A number of misconceptions have resulted," he says.
Zaccardelli says he first learned that the Mounties had passed erroneous information about Arar on to U.S authorities after a public inquiry report was released by Justice Dennis O'Connor in the fall of 2006. In September that year, Zaccardelli told a parliamentary committee that he had learned of the RCMP's mistake shortly after Arar's deportation to Syria in 2002.
Zaccardelli tells the committee his mistake should not lead to his resignation.
Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day says he "had no knowledge" the commissioner would change his story.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper expresses "concern" over Zaccardelli's conflicting testimony, but says he should not be fired "without due process."
• CBC STORY: PM promises to probe RCMP chief's flip-flop
Dec. 4, 2006
In a speech at the Canadian Club in Ottawa, RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli says he first learned that the Mounties had passederroneous informationabout Arar on to U.S authorities in the fall of 2006. In September 2006,Zaccardelli told a parliamentary committee that he learned of the RCMP's mistake shortly after Arar's deportation to Syria in 2002.
• CBC STORY: Zaccardelli says his Arar comments contain no discrepancies
Oct. 12, 2006
Three more Canadian men — Muayyed Nureddin, Abdullah Almalki and Ahmad El Maati — demand an independent inquiry into their allegations that they were imprisoned and tortured in Syria.
CBC STORY: 3 more Canadians alleging torture seek Arar-style inquiry
Sept. 28, 2006
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli breaks more than a week of silence on Maher Arar's ordeal, apologizing for the "nightmare" that arose when the Mounties wrongly linked him to terrorism. Speaking before the House of Commons security committee, Zaccardelli denies that the government muzzled him from speaking earlier on the case and insists he will not step down as commissioner over the affair.
Several critics have called for Zaccardelli's resignation following the revelation of the RCMP's blunders, detailed in O'Connor's report on the investigation.
When pressed about why he didn't know about the Arar file earlier, Zaccardelli tells Liberal MP Irwin Cotler he couldn't have followed each of the thousands of national security investigations after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
CBC STORY: RCMP chief apologizes to Arar for 'terrible injustices'
Sept. 20, 2006
After receiving a vote of confidence, the House of Commons issues a unanimous apology for the detention and torture of Arar, but a Conservative minister insists it is an expression on behalf of Parliament – not the government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper does not attend in the House of Commons, having already left for New York to appear at the United Nations General Assembly.
CBC STORY: Arar report puts U.S. 'rendition' policy into spotlight
Sept. 18, 2006
In his main report, O'Connor says there is no evidence Arar was ever linked to extremist groups or was a threat to Canada's national security. O'Connor finds Canadian consular officials treated Arar as well as they could under the circumstances. He has, however, nothing but sharp criticism for the RCMP.
The judge finds the RCMP had rules in place to restrict and qualify the kinds of intelligence information they routinely exchange with their counterparts in the U.S. But he finds that in this case, the rules were broken. As a result, he concludes, the FBI and U.S. security officials were given an inaccurate and unfair picture of the Arars and that this portrait dogged his entire time in a Syrian jail.
O'Connor also finds that the RCMP blocked Foreign Affairs from trying to get Arar returned to Canada earlier and omitted certain important facts about the Arar case when briefing senior government officials. The judge says he will h4ly recommend Canada compensate the Arars for what happened to them.
CBC STORY: False RCMP info 'very likely' led to Arar deportation: report
Feb. 16, 2006
A U.S. federal judge dismisses Maher Arar's lawsuit against American officials. Judge David Trager says he can't interfere in a case involving crucial national security issues. "The need for much secrecy can hardly be doubted," he writes.
Oct. 27, 2005
A fact-finder appointed by the Arar inquiry releases a report concluding that Arar was tortured when in Syrian custody three years ago. "I am convinced that his description of his treatment in Syria is accurate," Stephen Toope wrote.
CBC STORY: Arar was tortured, inquiry fact-finder concludes
Sept. 14, 2005
The Arar Commission concludes the main phase of its public hearings.
Aug. 23, 2005
RCMP Sgt. Rick Flewelling testifies that he spoke to U.S. officials about Arar's dual Canadian-Syrian citizenship and he didn't know the Americans would deport Arar to Syria.
June 30, 2005
RCMP Supt. Mike Cabana tells the Arar inquiry the Mounties shared intelligence with Syrian officials in the fall of 2002.
CBC STORY: RCMP shared intelligence with Syria, Arar inquiry told
June 16, 2005
Justice Dennis O'Connor, head of the Arar inquiry, denies a request to loosen government secrecy rules around the testimony of RCMP anti-terrorism officer Supt. Mike Cabana. O'Connor says lifting the rules would lead to a court battle that could delay the inquiry for months or years. Paul Heinbecker, Canada's former ambassador to the UN, says the testimony of Franco Pillarella, Canada's former ambassador to Syria, at the Arar inquiry has tainted the reputation of the country's entire diplomatic service.
CBC STORY: Sharp rebuke for ambassador over Arar comments
June 14, 2005
Franco Pillarella, Canada's ambassador to Syria at the time of Arar's deportation, says he didn't take action on the case because he saw no proof Arar was mistreated. Arar told consular officials he had been in custody for two weeks, but Pillarella believed a Syrian general who said Arar had been there only 24 hours.
Pillarella would later say that he didn't ask the Syrians where Arar was being held, and Canadian officials were "beggars, not choosers" when it came to such information, because he did not want to risk offending Syria and losing contact with Arar.
He would also give contradictory testimony about his knowledge of the Syrian prison where Arar was being held, which had been mentioned in several reports on torture in Syria.
CBC STORY: Ambassador believed Syrian general over Arar
CBC STORY: Arar inquiry told Canadians were 'beggars, not choosers'
June 13, 2005
RCMP Supt. Mike Cabana, head of an investigation into possible al-Qaeda activity, says government claims of national security will limit what he can say when he testifies at the Arar inquiry.
CBC STORY: Ottawa hampering Arar testimony: RCMP investigator
June 3, 2005
Former solicitor general Wayne Easter, who was in charge of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service at the time of Arar's detention in New York, says Canada played no role in the U.S. decision to deport him.
CBC STORY: Canadian officials 'not involved' in deporting Arar: Easter
June 2, 2005
Defence Minister Bill Graham apologizes for the length of Arar's prison stay in Syria. He says things would have been different if Canada had known what it knows now. "Clearly we would've preferred he'd been gotten out earlier, and I'm very sorry that he was not, for obvious reasons," he says.
CBC STORY: Graham sorry for length of Arar's prison stay
June 1, 2005
Senator Pierre De Bané testifies that U.S. officials offered to return Arar to Canada on condition that he be incarcerated and charged. When Canada refused, the U.S. deported Arar to Syria. De Bané says he learned of the offer from former Foreign Affiars Department officer Gar Pardy, who testified earlier.
CBC STORY: U.S. offered to return Arar to Canada, inquiry hears
May 30, 2005
Defence Minister Bill Graham, who was foreign affairs minister when Arar was deported to Syria, testifies that at the time he had no reason to believe Arar was being tortured in Syria. He says he was "frustrated" by the lack of co-operation he received from Canadian police and security officials.
CBC STORY: Graham 'frustrated' by lack of Arar information
May 25, 2005
Gar Pardy, formerly an officer with the Foreign Affairs Department, testifies that agents with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service visited Syria while Arar was detained there. Pardy is not permitted to say whom the agents met with or what was said, but he says they did not meet with Arar.
CBC STORY: CSIS visited Syria during Arar's imprisonment
May 24, 2005
Arar asks Prime Minister Paul Martin to order the release of uncensored documents dealing with his arrest and deportation, and he threatens to boycott the inquiry if the government fails to do so.
CBC STORY: Arar asks PM to release documents
May 21, 2005
After reviewing Canada's compliance with the Convention Against Torture, a UN committee concludes that Ottawa should have intervened to protect Arar from being sent to Syria.
CBC STORY: Canada should have intervened in Arar case: UN report
May 18, 2005
Dan Livermore, the director general of the Foreign Affairs Department's security and intelligence bureau, says U.S. officials used a process called extraordinary rendition to deport Arar to Syria. "I find troubling the entire course of activity the American government has embarked upon since about 2001 with respect to what they call extraordinary rendition, a practice which we knew absolutely nothing about," says Livermore.
CBC STORY: U.S. actions in Arar case called 'extremely troubling'
May 11, 2005
Judge Dennis O'Connor says Arar won't have to testify during the public phase of the inquiry, because Arar has not been able to see the top-secret evidence the inquiry has heard. Arar may be able to testify following O'Connor's interim report.
CBC STORY: Arar won't have to testify until after inquiry's 1st report
May 3, 2005
Government lawyer Barbara McIsaac admits that Arar was a victim when he was deported, but does not declare his innocence or say Canadian officials did anything wrong.
CBC STORY: Arar was a victim, federal lawyer admits
Timeline
Last Updated January 26, 2007
CBC News
Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria in 1970, came to Canada in 1987. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in computer engineering, Arar worked in Ottawa as a telecommunications engineer.
Arar with his daughter (file photo)
On a stopover in New York as he was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia in September 2002, U.S. officials detained Arar, claiming he has links to al-Qaeda, and deported him to Syria, even though he was carrying a Canadian passport.
When Arar returned to Canada more than a year later, he said he had been tortured during his incarceration and accused American officials of sending him to Syria knowing that they practise torture.
His wife Monia Mazigh has a PhD in financial economics and ran for the NDP in the 2004 federal election in the riding of Ottawa South. She lost. Arar and Mazigh have two young children. In the summer of 2006, the family relocated to Kamloops, B.C., where Mazigh took a teaching position at Thompson Rivers University.
Arar and his family are seeking compensation from the federal government for his abrupt deportation and imprisonment in Syria. Judge Dennis O'Connor, who conducted the inquiry into the matter, recommended in his report dated Sept. 18, 2006 that Ottawa pay up.
TIMELINE:
Jan. 26, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issues a formal apology to Maher Arar while announcing Arar will receive $12.5 million in compensation.
The package includes $10.5 million for pain and suffering, and another $2 million for Arar's legal fees.
"I sincerely hope that these words and actions will help you and your family begin a new chapter in your lives," says Harper.
The prime minister reveals Canada has sent letters to the U.S. and Syria to protest Arar's treatment.
Arar initially filed a lawsuit for $400 million, and later sought $37 million in compensation.
Jan 24, 2007
U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins fires back at Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day for Day's insistence that Arar be removed from the U.S. watch list. "It's a little presumptuous of him to say who the United States can and cannot allow into our country," Wilkins says at a news conference. "Canadian officials would rightly never tolerate any American official dictating to them who they may or may not allow into their country."
Jan. 22, 2007
In a letter to Day, U.S. officials reveal that Arar will remain on the U.S. watch list. The letter comes from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who say they have reviewed Arar's file, but find there is still sufficient evidence to justify barring him from the U.S.
Jan. 18, 2007
Day meets with Chertoff to review the Arar file. Despite new information in the file, Day says there is still nothing there to justify keeping Arar on the U.S. watch list.
"We have seen some recent (U.S.) information that has not altered our opinion on this at all," Day told reporters.
Elsewhere, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy lambastes Gonzales over the government's handling of the Arar case.
"Why is he on a government watch list if he's been found completely innocent by this Canadian commission?" Leahy asked.
The attorney general responded that the U.S. government had received assurances that Arar would not be tortured.
"We knew damn well, if he went to Canada, he wouldn't be tortured," Leahy says loudly. "We also knew damn well, if he went to Syria, he'd be tortured. And it's beneath the dignity of this country, a country that has always been a beacon of human rights, to send somebody to another country to be tortured."
Dec. 21, 2006
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promises U.S. security officials will review Arar's case. In a joint news conference with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, Rice says she has told the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security to review the matter.
Dec. 20, 2006
A U.S. security official bluntly states that the U.S. will keep its own counsel on how to handle the Arar case.
"With respect to some issues, we're going to have to respectfully but firmly go our own way and the Arar matter, at least for now, is one of those," Paul Rosenzweig, acting assistant secretary for international affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, tells reporters in Washington.
"As for the sharing of information with the Canadian government, while I do recognize that in an idealized world, we would share every bit of intelligence information with all of our partners. In the real world, that is an idealization that isn't achievable."
In response, Harper tells Sun Media that "as near as I can see, we simply have a U.S. government that won't admit it's wrong."
Dec. 12, 2006
In his second report on the Arar inquiry, Justice Dennis O'Connor recommends giving an independent body the power to review the intelligence activities of the RCMP and other security agencies.
• CBC STORY: Security agencies need independent oversight: O'Connor
Dec. 6, 2006
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli submits his resignation to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
• CBC STORY: RCMP's embattled chief quits over Arar testimony
Dec. 5, 2006
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli appears before the Commons committee on public safety and national security for a second time. He says he made a mistake when he gave inaccurate testimony about Arar's case to the committee in September.
"I believe some aspects of my prior testimony could have been more precise and more clearly stated. A number of misconceptions have resulted," he says.
Zaccardelli says he first learned that the Mounties had passed erroneous information about Arar on to U.S authorities after a public inquiry report was released by Justice Dennis O'Connor in the fall of 2006. In September that year, Zaccardelli told a parliamentary committee that he had learned of the RCMP's mistake shortly after Arar's deportation to Syria in 2002.
Zaccardelli tells the committee his mistake should not lead to his resignation.
Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day says he "had no knowledge" the commissioner would change his story.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper expresses "concern" over Zaccardelli's conflicting testimony, but says he should not be fired "without due process."
• CBC STORY: PM promises to probe RCMP chief's flip-flop
Dec. 4, 2006
In a speech at the Canadian Club in Ottawa, RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli says he first learned that the Mounties had passederroneous informationabout Arar on to U.S authorities in the fall of 2006. In September 2006,Zaccardelli told a parliamentary committee that he learned of the RCMP's mistake shortly after Arar's deportation to Syria in 2002.
• CBC STORY: Zaccardelli says his Arar comments contain no discrepancies
Oct. 12, 2006
Three more Canadian men — Muayyed Nureddin, Abdullah Almalki and Ahmad El Maati — demand an independent inquiry into their allegations that they were imprisoned and tortured in Syria.
CBC STORY: 3 more Canadians alleging torture seek Arar-style inquiry
Sept. 28, 2006
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli breaks more than a week of silence on Maher Arar's ordeal, apologizing for the "nightmare" that arose when the Mounties wrongly linked him to terrorism. Speaking before the House of Commons security committee, Zaccardelli denies that the government muzzled him from speaking earlier on the case and insists he will not step down as commissioner over the affair.
Several critics have called for Zaccardelli's resignation following the revelation of the RCMP's blunders, detailed in O'Connor's report on the investigation.
When pressed about why he didn't know about the Arar file earlier, Zaccardelli tells Liberal MP Irwin Cotler he couldn't have followed each of the thousands of national security investigations after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
CBC STORY: RCMP chief apologizes to Arar for 'terrible injustices'
Sept. 20, 2006
After receiving a vote of confidence, the House of Commons issues a unanimous apology for the detention and torture of Arar, but a Conservative minister insists it is an expression on behalf of Parliament – not the government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper does not attend in the House of Commons, having already left for New York to appear at the United Nations General Assembly.
CBC STORY: Arar report puts U.S. 'rendition' policy into spotlight
Sept. 18, 2006
In his main report, O'Connor says there is no evidence Arar was ever linked to extremist groups or was a threat to Canada's national security. O'Connor finds Canadian consular officials treated Arar as well as they could under the circumstances. He has, however, nothing but sharp criticism for the RCMP.
The judge finds the RCMP had rules in place to restrict and qualify the kinds of intelligence information they routinely exchange with their counterparts in the U.S. But he finds that in this case, the rules were broken. As a result, he concludes, the FBI and U.S. security officials were given an inaccurate and unfair picture of the Arars and that this portrait dogged his entire time in a Syrian jail.
O'Connor also finds that the RCMP blocked Foreign Affairs from trying to get Arar returned to Canada earlier and omitted certain important facts about the Arar case when briefing senior government officials. The judge says he will h4ly recommend Canada compensate the Arars for what happened to them.
CBC STORY: False RCMP info 'very likely' led to Arar deportation: report
Feb. 16, 2006
A U.S. federal judge dismisses Maher Arar's lawsuit against American officials. Judge David Trager says he can't interfere in a case involving crucial national security issues. "The need for much secrecy can hardly be doubted," he writes.
Oct. 27, 2005
A fact-finder appointed by the Arar inquiry releases a report concluding that Arar was tortured when in Syrian custody three years ago. "I am convinced that his description of his treatment in Syria is accurate," Stephen Toope wrote.
CBC STORY: Arar was tortured, inquiry fact-finder concludes
Sept. 14, 2005
The Arar Commission concludes the main phase of its public hearings.
Aug. 23, 2005
RCMP Sgt. Rick Flewelling testifies that he spoke to U.S. officials about Arar's dual Canadian-Syrian citizenship and he didn't know the Americans would deport Arar to Syria.
June 30, 2005
RCMP Supt. Mike Cabana tells the Arar inquiry the Mounties shared intelligence with Syrian officials in the fall of 2002.
CBC STORY: RCMP shared intelligence with Syria, Arar inquiry told
June 16, 2005
Justice Dennis O'Connor, head of the Arar inquiry, denies a request to loosen government secrecy rules around the testimony of RCMP anti-terrorism officer Supt. Mike Cabana. O'Connor says lifting the rules would lead to a court battle that could delay the inquiry for months or years. Paul Heinbecker, Canada's former ambassador to the UN, says the testimony of Franco Pillarella, Canada's former ambassador to Syria, at the Arar inquiry has tainted the reputation of the country's entire diplomatic service.
CBC STORY: Sharp rebuke for ambassador over Arar comments
June 14, 2005
Franco Pillarella, Canada's ambassador to Syria at the time of Arar's deportation, says he didn't take action on the case because he saw no proof Arar was mistreated. Arar told consular officials he had been in custody for two weeks, but Pillarella believed a Syrian general who said Arar had been there only 24 hours.
Pillarella would later say that he didn't ask the Syrians where Arar was being held, and Canadian officials were "beggars, not choosers" when it came to such information, because he did not want to risk offending Syria and losing contact with Arar.
He would also give contradictory testimony about his knowledge of the Syrian prison where Arar was being held, which had been mentioned in several reports on torture in Syria.
CBC STORY: Ambassador believed Syrian general over Arar
CBC STORY: Arar inquiry told Canadians were 'beggars, not choosers'
June 13, 2005
RCMP Supt. Mike Cabana, head of an investigation into possible al-Qaeda activity, says government claims of national security will limit what he can say when he testifies at the Arar inquiry.
CBC STORY: Ottawa hampering Arar testimony: RCMP investigator
June 3, 2005
Former solicitor general Wayne Easter, who was in charge of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service at the time of Arar's detention in New York, says Canada played no role in the U.S. decision to deport him.
CBC STORY: Canadian officials 'not involved' in deporting Arar: Easter
June 2, 2005
Defence Minister Bill Graham apologizes for the length of Arar's prison stay in Syria. He says things would have been different if Canada had known what it knows now. "Clearly we would've preferred he'd been gotten out earlier, and I'm very sorry that he was not, for obvious reasons," he says.
CBC STORY: Graham sorry for length of Arar's prison stay
June 1, 2005
Senator Pierre De Bané testifies that U.S. officials offered to return Arar to Canada on condition that he be incarcerated and charged. When Canada refused, the U.S. deported Arar to Syria. De Bané says he learned of the offer from former Foreign Affiars Department officer Gar Pardy, who testified earlier.
CBC STORY: U.S. offered to return Arar to Canada, inquiry hears
May 30, 2005
Defence Minister Bill Graham, who was foreign affairs minister when Arar was deported to Syria, testifies that at the time he had no reason to believe Arar was being tortured in Syria. He says he was "frustrated" by the lack of co-operation he received from Canadian police and security officials.
CBC STORY: Graham 'frustrated' by lack of Arar information
May 25, 2005
Gar Pardy, formerly an officer with the Foreign Affairs Department, testifies that agents with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service visited Syria while Arar was detained there. Pardy is not permitted to say whom the agents met with or what was said, but he says they did not meet with Arar.
CBC STORY: CSIS visited Syria during Arar's imprisonment
May 24, 2005
Arar asks Prime Minister Paul Martin to order the release of uncensored documents dealing with his arrest and deportation, and he threatens to boycott the inquiry if the government fails to do so.
CBC STORY: Arar asks PM to release documents
May 21, 2005
After reviewing Canada's compliance with the Convention Against Torture, a UN committee concludes that Ottawa should have intervened to protect Arar from being sent to Syria.
CBC STORY: Canada should have intervened in Arar case: UN report
May 18, 2005
Dan Livermore, the director general of the Foreign Affairs Department's security and intelligence bureau, says U.S. officials used a process called extraordinary rendition to deport Arar to Syria. "I find troubling the entire course of activity the American government has embarked upon since about 2001 with respect to what they call extraordinary rendition, a practice which we knew absolutely nothing about," says Livermore.
CBC STORY: U.S. actions in Arar case called 'extremely troubling'
May 11, 2005
Judge Dennis O'Connor says Arar won't have to testify during the public phase of the inquiry, because Arar has not been able to see the top-secret evidence the inquiry has heard. Arar may be able to testify following O'Connor's interim report.
CBC STORY: Arar won't have to testify until after inquiry's 1st report
May 3, 2005
Government lawyer Barbara McIsaac admits that Arar was a victim when he was deported, but does not declare his innocence or say Canadian officials did anything wrong.
CBC STORY: Arar was a victim, federal lawyer admits