In Refusing to Hear My Case, The Supreme Court Has Put the World's Peace and Order in Danger

[unhappycamper]

In Refusing to Hear My Case, The Supreme Court Has Put the World's Peace and Order in Danger
Maher Arar
Human rights advocate
Posted: June 28, 2010 04:31 PM

Last week the Supreme Court of the United States of America refused to hear my case. This eliminates any remaining hope for me of obtaining justice through the U.S. judicial system against US officials who sent me to Syria to be tortured.

Let me emphasize the fact that my case is not an isolated one. My case is unique in the sense that I was the only person who was rendered from US soil. But hundreds of other human beings have been rendered by the CIA and handed over to brutal regimes. No one knows how many of these people have died under torture or completely disappeared. Those of us who were lucky "survived" and were released, but now live with psychological and physical scars.

In times of turmoil and crisis, such as the ones we have been living since 9/11, the judicial system is supposed to do exactly the opposite of what it has done: it is supposed to stand up to the executive branch and make sure the constitution is respected. Unfortunately, the judicial system has abandoned its sacred role of ensuring that no one is above the law. In doing so it has given the executive branch the green light to continue abusing people's basic human rights. As a result of this willful blindness, it has put the world's peace and order in danger.

A lot of people had high hopes when Obama took his oath to uphold the Constitution. It later became clear that his administration was no better than that of his predecessor. Here we are, 18 months after he took office, and Guantánamo is still open, renditions are still being carried out and illegal assassinations by drone planes have increased tenfold. This latter tactic has claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians so far. One can only wonder what is next in the so-called "war on terror."

What is the solution to this state of lawlessness that the world is experiencing today? In my opinion, the judicial system can, and should, exercise its full powers. American Judges should learn lessons from their Italian counterparts, who did not listen to their political masters when it came to laying charges against the CIA officers who illegally kidnapped an Egyptian cleric on Italian soil and rendered him to torture in Egypt.

[gleaner]

1. He is right ...

They took away his life and gave him a huge amount of misery as a substitute. The pity is that we can't depend on either our justice system or our elected officials to put a stop to this. It was our president who took such actions to the supreme court and gave them the force of law early in his term. Habeas Corpus anyone? I hope you're not depending on it, because it is becoming extinct.

Thank you for the eloquent post. K&R.

[unhappycamper]

2. Thanks for the unrec.

:hi:

[Lochloosa]

3. I took care of it unhappycamper

:toast:

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. +1. nt

[Vinnie From Indy]

5. K&R

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

We are all diminished by the lack of prosecutions.

[Left coast liberal]

8. Heartbreaking. NT

[rhett o rick]

9. I notice no comments from the DU-DLC. nm

[Octafish]

10. It's called TYRANNY.

Same as it ever was, until 1776. A lot must have changed since then, otherwise more people would see it.

[Dystopian]

11. KandR.

More hell on earth.
It will never end.

So much for high hopes....I really believed in Obama...his 'oath'

peace~

[Rex]

12. American institutions are not about protecting The People,

they are about protecting American institutions and woa be the individual that brings a legitimate gripe against them! We live in a softcore oligarchy AT BEST, corporate tyranny at worst.

[amborin]

13. K&R what role did Kagan play here? ny times asked the other day....Here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28mon1.html?ref=opinion

[leftstreet]

14. K&R

[Hydra]

15. Torture, FTW

And it's all "legal"

[Senator]

16. This Kind of Thing Never Just Goes Away

Like with the Stolen Elections, this refusal to abide by and enforce the laws and treaty obligations our greater generations fought and died to forge "renders" this once-great nation to a clearly lower moral plane to that which we once strived to achieve.

It eats away like an invisible acid. Soldiers question the honor of their profession. Children question the veracity of their civics lessons. Stalwarts question their party allegiances. People of means question their resistance to expatriation -- particularly in retirement.

Culturally, they are blows to the common civic faith. Legally, they are breaches of the contract known as the US Constitution. Even crass-commercially, it costs us billions in lost exports to a continuously less-trusting, less-admiring world.

Unless and until we face up to it, the American Legacy is one of hopelessness and disgrace.

---

[laughingliberal]

17. Rec for exposure. nt

[EFerrari]

18. K&R

[democrank]

19. Shame on us.

We`ve been frightened into submission.

[mmonk]

20. Recommended.

This stains the integrity of the United States like the oil is staining our beaches in the Gulf.

[Mojeoux]

21. K and R