Link to the Show / Show NotesThis edition of Canadian Voices features Maher Arar,
a wireless technology consultant. He was born in Syria and came to Canada with his family at the age of 17. He became a Canadian citizen in 1991. In 2002, while in transit in New Yorkâs JFK airport when returning home from a vacation, Arar was detained by US officials and interrogated about alleged links to al-Qaeda. Twelve days later, he was chained, shackled and flown to Syria, where he was held in a tiny cell for ten months and ten days before he was moved to a better cell in a different prison. In Syria, he was beaten, tortured and forced to make a false confession.
In this talk, Mr. Arar speaks about the fragility
of our rights, the dangers of allowing deeper
integration with the US to trump human rights,
and the need for meaningful oversight of CSIS
and the RCMP if we are to restore Canada's
tarnished reputation for promoting human rights
both at home and around the globe.
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