"While in transit at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in September 2002, Mr. Arar was taken into custody by U.S. officials and shackled. Officials repeatedly questioned Mr. Arar about his connection to certain members of Al-Qaeda, the global terrorist network. Mr. Arar repeatedly denied that he had any connections whatsoever to the named individuals. Mr. Arar’s requests for a lawyer were dismissed on the basis that he was not an American citizen, therefore he did not have the right to receive counsel. Despite his denials, he remained in custody and eventually boarded on a small jet which first landed in Washington, DC, and then Amman, Jordan.
Once in Amman, Mr. Arar was blindfolded, shackled and put in a van. “They made me bend my head down in the back seat,” Mr. Arar recalled. “Then these men started beating me. Every time I tried to talk, they beat me."
Mr. Arar was deported to Syria despite the fact that he is a Canadian citizen and has resided in the country for 17 years. He pleaded with officials to allow him to go to Canada; those pleas were ignored. The fact that officials did not place Mr. Arar in Canadian custody is extremely troubling and call into question the US government’s motives.
Upon reaching Syria, Mr. Arar was transferred to a prison, where he was beaten for several hours and forced to falsely confess that he had attended a training camp in Afghanistan, fighting against the United States. “I was willing to do anything to stop the torture,” he says."
http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/ccr-investigates-case-torture-survivor-maher-ararIt seems to be in short supply these days.