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De American Civil Liberties Union bericht: 'ACLU, U.S. Government Present Arguments in El-Masri Lawsuit.
CONTACT: Paul Silva, ACLU, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org
ALEXANDRIA, VA -- The American Civil Liberties Union will argue its case on the illegal abduction and detention of Khaled El-Masri May 12 before a federal court in Alexandria. The ACLU said El-Masri is an innocent German citizen who was victimized by the CIA's policy of "extraordinary rendition."
The hearing comes in a landmark lawsuit charging former CIA director George Tenet, other CIA officials and U.S.-based aviation corporations with violations of United States and universal human rights laws. El-Masri was on vacation in Macedonia when he was kidnapped and transported to a CIA-run "black site" in Afghanistan. After several months of confinement in squalid conditions, he was abandoned on a hill in Albania with no explanation, never having been charged with a crime.
Last week, a special committee of the European Parliament issued an interim report concluding that the CIA has on several occasions illegally kidnapped and detained individuals in European countries. The report also found that the CIA detained and then secretly used airlines to transfer persons to countries like Egypt and Afghanistan, which routinely use torture during interrogations.
Members of the European investigative committee will be in the United States from May 8 - 12 to meet with the ACLU and Members of Congress. A parliamentary inquiry into El-Masri's kidnapping is also currently ongoing in Germany.
Background and briefs on the case are online at www.aclu.org/rendition.
WHAT: Hearing on the illegal abduction and detention of Khaled El-Masri
WHO: ACLU Staff Attorney Ben Wizner will argue before Judge T.S. Ellis III
WHEN: Friday, May 12, 2:00 p.m. EST
WHERE: United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
Albert V. Bryan Courthouse401 Courthouse SquareAlexandria, VA 22314.' Zie:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/rendition.html