Hold the Bush Administration Accountable for Torture!

From The National Lawyers Guild

Pack the Courthouse! Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Rally and procession to courthouse, Tuesday, December 9, 2008
12:30pm — 1:30pm
Foley Square, Worth & Centre Streets
Near Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall 4,5,6 and R,W trains
Argument starts at 3pm, U.S. Second Circuit Court of
Appeals, 500 Pearl St., 9th Flr, Ceremonial Courtroom

In 2002, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained at JFK airport while on a stopover. He was interrogated, detained for two weeks, denied his right to go to court, and sent to Syria where he was tortured and held in a grave-like cell for ten months. He was never charged with a crime.

Arar v. Ashcroft, Maher Arar’s lawsuit in U.S. courts, claims that former Attorney General Ashcroft and other officials violated his right to be free from torture and
arbitrary detention and his right to go to court. The courts have dismissed the case largely due to U.S. officials’ claims that national security and foreign policy concerns are at stake. But the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decided to rehear Maher Arar’s case on December 9, 2008.