European human rights court tells Macedonia it has case to answer after German citizen Khaled al-Masri seized at request of CIA in 2003
Richard Norton-Taylor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 October 2010 14.40 BST
The European court of human rights has for the first time told a state it has a case to answer over the CIA's practice of seizing terror suspects and subjecting them to mistreatment in secret jails.
It has called Macedonia to account for seizing Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen, at the request of the US in December 2003 and held him incommunicado for 23 days. Masri was handed over to the CIA and flown to a detention centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was confined in what have been described as appalling conditions, interrogated and abused.
Four months later, Masri was flown by the CIA to a base in Albania where he was dumped on a roadside.
The case against Macedonia, which has become the first government called to account by an international court for its collaboration with the CIA's extraordinary rendition programme, was brought by the Open Society Justice Initiative, an independent New York foundation supported by George Soros.
The Strasbourg-based court told the Macedonian government it had a case to answer on 8 October.
"With this case, the European court has gone beyond the US judiciary in responding to the torture and abuse associated with unlawful rendition," said James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. "Khaled el-Masri has endured a terrible ordeal, and he has a right to justice and public acknowledgement of his mistreatment."
He described the court's move as a major step forward, since only about 10% of all cases brought before it advance to this stage. Macedonia, which has denied any involvement in Masri's abduction, will have to answer specific questions posed by the court about its alleged role in the CIA's rendition programme. The court has also invited Germany to submit comments.
The US has never publicly acknowledged rendering Masri. In 2007, the US supreme court declined to question an appeal court ruling on grounds of US state secrets privilege.
Flight records show that on 23 January 2004, a Boeing 737 business jet owned by a US-based corporation, Premier Executive Transportation Services, operated by another US-based corporation, Aero Contractors Limited, and registered by the US Federal Aviation Administration as aircraft N313P, flew Masri from Macedonia via Baghdad to Afghanistan, according to the Open Society Justice Initiative. The same aircraft has been identified as being involved in other rendition flights.
Masri was seized on 31 December 2003, when he was travelling from his home in Ulm, Germany, to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, by bus. When he reached the border, Macedonian officials confiscated his passport and detained him for several hours before he was handed over to armed officers in plain clothes.
National investigations related to Masri's rendition are continuing in Germany and Spain. The Polish, Lithuanian and British governments are being investigated over their alleged role in CIA extraordinary renditions.
guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/14/macedonia-khaled-el-masri
Richard Norton-Taylor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 October 2010 14.40 BST
The European court of human rights has for the first time told a state it has a case to answer over the CIA's practice of seizing terror suspects and subjecting them to mistreatment in secret jails.
It has called Macedonia to account for seizing Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen, at the request of the US in December 2003 and held him incommunicado for 23 days. Masri was handed over to the CIA and flown to a detention centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was confined in what have been described as appalling conditions, interrogated and abused.
Four months later, Masri was flown by the CIA to a base in Albania where he was dumped on a roadside.
The case against Macedonia, which has become the first government called to account by an international court for its collaboration with the CIA's extraordinary rendition programme, was brought by the Open Society Justice Initiative, an independent New York foundation supported by George Soros.
The Strasbourg-based court told the Macedonian government it had a case to answer on 8 October.
"With this case, the European court has gone beyond the US judiciary in responding to the torture and abuse associated with unlawful rendition," said James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. "Khaled el-Masri has endured a terrible ordeal, and he has a right to justice and public acknowledgement of his mistreatment."
He described the court's move as a major step forward, since only about 10% of all cases brought before it advance to this stage. Macedonia, which has denied any involvement in Masri's abduction, will have to answer specific questions posed by the court about its alleged role in the CIA's rendition programme. The court has also invited Germany to submit comments.
The US has never publicly acknowledged rendering Masri. In 2007, the US supreme court declined to question an appeal court ruling on grounds of US state secrets privilege.
Flight records show that on 23 January 2004, a Boeing 737 business jet owned by a US-based corporation, Premier Executive Transportation Services, operated by another US-based corporation, Aero Contractors Limited, and registered by the US Federal Aviation Administration as aircraft N313P, flew Masri from Macedonia via Baghdad to Afghanistan, according to the Open Society Justice Initiative. The same aircraft has been identified as being involved in other rendition flights.
Masri was seized on 31 December 2003, when he was travelling from his home in Ulm, Germany, to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, by bus. When he reached the border, Macedonian officials confiscated his passport and detained him for several hours before he was handed over to armed officers in plain clothes.
National investigations related to Masri's rendition are continuing in Germany and Spain. The Polish, Lithuanian and British governments are being investigated over their alleged role in CIA extraordinary renditions.
guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/14/macedonia-khaled-el-masri
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου