Maher Arar was guilty. But only guilty of being Muslim.

Having heard Arar interviewed, I must say his story sounds legitimate. Authorities over-reacted.

Arar is waiting on a personal apology from the Prime Minister.

A Syrian-Canadian has been totally exonerated of having ties with Al Qaeda — after the RCMP and US Department of Homeland Security conspired to have him shipped to Syria, where he was tortured for ten months.

Maher Arar was passing through the US on the way back to Canada when the DHS detained him. The Mounties sent the US authorities bogus intel about him, saying that he had “links with Al Quaeda” because he was friends with someone who might be an Al Quaeda sympathizer. The US authorities sent him to Syria, where they (and the RCMP) fed questions to his Syrian torturers for months. Eventually, his torturers extracted a “confession” from him.

When he returned to Canada, he publicized his plight and the RCMP responded by smearing him, publicizing his “confession” and saying that he’d gotten what he deserved.

Now a public Canadian inquiry (which the DHS boycotted, refusing to disclose any information) has totally cleared Arar, and the RCMP has apologized for sending a citizen to a corrupt totalitarian state to be tortured because he was friends with someone they didn’t like.

… Three other Canadian citizens were also tortured in the Middle East under similar circumstances: Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muyyed Nurredin.

Boing Boing: Canadian deported to Syria for torture is cleared