Maher Arar
PER
Arar Maher Arar
The administration's tendency to sidestep accountability for lawless actions by resorting to secrecy and claims of national security is on sharp display in the case of a Syrian-born Canadian, Maher Arar, who spent months under torture because of United States action. Mr. Arar, a 35-year-old software engineer whose case has been detailed in a pair of columns by Bob Herbert, was detained  while on his way home from a family vacation. He was held in solitary confinement in a Brooklyn detention center and interrogated without proper access to legal counsel. Finally, he was send to a Syrian prison. The administration's tendency to dodge accountability for lawless actions by resorting to secrecy is on sharp display in the case of a Syrian-born Canadian, Maher Arar, who spent months under torture because of United States action. Mr. Arar, a 35-year-old software engineer, was detained at Kennedy Airport in 2002. Finally, he was shipped off to a Syrian prison. The maltreatment of Mr. Arar would be reprehensible and illegal under the United States Constitution. The judge in the case, David Trager of Federal District Court, did not dispute that United States officials had reason to know that Mr. Arar faced a likelihood of torture in Syria. 