(Montreal, Quebec, Oct. 2, 2006) - The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) is still waiting for the federal government to hold members of the RCMP and CSIS accountable for Mr. Maher Arar’s ordeal.
“Clearing Mr. Arar’s name officially and declaring his innocence is just the first step,” Salam Elmenyawi, president of MCM, said. “What is urgently needed now is to hold those responsible accountable and take concrete action to ensure that such injustices are not allowed to occur again.”
MCM reiterates its demands for the Stephen Harper to do the following:
Apologize to Mr. Arar and his family;
Financially compensate Mr. Arar for the extreme psychological and economical hardships he faced;
Hold accountable the members of CSIS and RCMP who were responsible for providing false and misleading information which led to the arrest and torture of Mr. Arar;
Establish a system of checks and balances to ensure such injustices do not occur again;
Create an independent watchdog body to monitor and oversee all national security operations;
Introduce legislation to ban: a) the supply of information to foreign governments that engage, directly or indirectly, in torture or where there is a risk that the information may subject people to torture; b) the use of foreign information obtained through the means of torture; c) the deportation of any person to countries where there is a risk they will be tortured.
“This matter is too great to be swept aside by a mere lip-service apology,” Elmenyawi stated. “The words of the government, of RCMP and of CSIS must be met with actions.”
