Maher Arar

To torture or not to torture: Why is this question being asked in America?

marar — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:13:20 +0000

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To torture or not to torture, why is this question being asked in America? The answer you will receive is different depending on who you speak to. Proponents of torture, such as Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz, argued in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 that there is a need in "exceptional circumstances" to resort to "legal torture."

What life looks like under a national security state

marar — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:22:22 +0000

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Life under a national security state is not a life. Living under such a state is simply living like a slave, or at best it is like living in a big prison, albeit one that has invisible bars. While invisible, these bars are, nevertheless, extremely constraining.

One of the pillars the national security state heavily depends on is wholesale surveillance. Total surveillance society, as predicted by George Orwell more than a half-century ago, has finally arrived. Technological advances, achieved over the past three decades, made total surveillance both possible and "affordable."

Ten myths about Assad and what's happening in Syria

marar — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:19:36 +0000

A lot has been said about Syria since the popular uprising started in March 2011.

In what follows I present 10 myths that have been circulating around since the very beginning. Many of these myths are, unfortunately, still being reinforced by many Western journalists and left-leaning anti-imperialism activists.

1. The United States and its allies have been supplying arms to the Syrian armed opposition.

2. The fighting that has been taking place in Syria has an entirely sectarian nature and as such can be accurately described as a civil war.

Myth and reality in the struggle for Syria

marar — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 02:16:53 +0000

Deciding whether or not to oppose Syria’s rulers has been the recent dominant preoccupation of many anti-imperialist and left-leaning movements. This hesitant attitude towards the Syrian struggle for freedom is nurtured by many anti-regime actions that were recently taken by many Western and Middle-Eastern countries, whose main interest lies in isolating Syria from Iran. However, I believe a better question to ask with respect to Syria is whether the leftist movement should support, or not support, the struggle of the Syrian people.

Canada's no-fly list: Who really controls Canadian airspace?

marar — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:53:09 +0000

I wish I could answer the above question with absolute certainty. One thing is certain: Canada is not the only decision-maker when it comes to refusing air travellers on overseas trips, and on some selected domestic flights which pass through U.S. airspace. This fact made many civil rights activists question whether Canada has lost its airspace sovereignty.

Public safety minister's torture directive 2.0

marar — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:03:18 +0000

Jim Bronskill from the Canadian Press published a follow-up story on the torture directive that was issued by the Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews. The new story speaks of a more recent directive issued in July 2011.

Public safety minister bows to pressure on torture policy

marar — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:03:40 +0000

In a carefully worded directive, obtained by Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, Public Safety Minister Vic Towes instructs CSIS to accept information under torture "in exceptional circumstances where there exists a threat to human life or public safety." By analyzing the letter carefully, one can easily sense that the Minister chose his words carefully for reasons he only knows.

Instead of clarifying Canada's position vis-a-vis the use of information obtained under torture, this directive adds confusion to an already ambiguous and polarized debate.

Bashar al-Assad in state of desperation

marar — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:30:27 +0000

The signs are clear: Bashar al-Assad is in a state of desperation, and his latest speech in front of Syrian parliament proves it: having played most of the cards at his disposal in attempting to crush the Syrian uprising (including the murder of peaceful protesters), he is now playing his final card, the "patriotism" card, by now insisting that the turmoil taking place in Syria is the result of a "foreign conspiracy." He has promised that he will resort to an "iron-first" approach to deal with the "terrorists" (i.e. peaceful protesters). He reiterated his promise during a surprise appearance in front of a crowd of supporters the following day.

U.K. won't prosecute spies over torture claims

marar — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:17:28 +0000

The United Kingdom's spy agencies have been cleared of involvement in the torture of former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohammed who had alleged that Britain knew that he was being tortured while in United States custody.

Although the investigation into the claims of collusion has ended, authorities say the case could be re-opened if new evidence emerges.

Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from London.

Daraa's events prove Bashar al-Assad wrong

marar — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:25:51 +0000

When the Tunisian dictator Ben Ali fled the country, other Arab dictators were quick to announce that the Tunisian uprising was an isolated incident. When asked by the media, Egypt's former Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was confident that the unrest would never spread to Egypt.

He was proven wrong only few weeks later when his master Hosni Mubarak, the head of the Egyptian dictatorship, was forced to resign after millions of Egyptians took to the streets in a lengthy and unprecedented protest demanding democratic reform, and with it, his resignation.

After the fall of Mubarak, Arab citizens elsewhere rightly thought that their leaders would understand the inevitability of the situation: that the resolve of the people was too strong to overcome.