Post by ocelot on May 3, 2007 18:46:41 GMT -5
Maher Arar makes Time Magazine list of 100 most influential people
3 May, 7:19 PM
TORONTO (CP) - Maher Arar, the Canadian deported by the U.S. to Syria where he was imprisoned and tortured, has been selected by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people.
"He is an enduring symbol of the misuse of torture, " Time's Deputy Managing Editor Adi Ignatius said from New York on Thursday.
In 2002, the Syrian-born software engineer from Ottawa was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia when he was detained by U.S. officials during a stopover in New York.
He was later deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured.
In a statement issued Thursday through the Centre for Constitutional Rights, Arar said he is very honoured to be on Time's list.
He also thanked all those who "have supported me and my family throughout this struggle for justice."
Ignatius said Arar's dignity and "his continued battle is inspirational and symbolic."
"He is a strong man who's earned his name in the list," said Ignatius whose publication made the final cut from a list of more than 1,000 names.
"We are still as mystified as he is as to why the U.S. keeps him in the watch list."
Ignatius said it was influence, not power that got Arar on the Time list.
"Influence can be a lot of things. It can also be a more symbolic inspirational sort of influence and that's where he (Arar) fits."
Arar, whose deportation was based partly on faulty intelligence supplied by Canada, was later vindicated in an inquiry ordered by Ottawa and awarded $10.5 million in compensation.
While his case is well known in Canada, Ignatius said in the U.S. people know him only as "the man who was arrested at the airport" and deported.
"But he has people who have taken up his case and are very actively fighting for him." Ignatius said.
One of them is U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, who wrote the tribute to Arar in the Time's website.
The Vermont Senator said the Arar case "stands as a sad symbol" of how the U.S. has been too willing to sacrifice core principles in the name of security.
The list of 100 most influential also includes the Queen, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, YouTube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, director Martin Scorsese and model Kate Moss.
Overall, the list includes 71 men and 29 women from 27 countries.
Arar and his wife and two children are moving back to Ottawa this summer after living in Kamloops, B.C for the past year.
Other Canadians who have made the Time 100 in the last four years are basketball player Steve Nash, veteran diplomat Stephen Lewis, author Alice Munro and founding president of Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberte.
3 May, 7:19 PM
TORONTO (CP) - Maher Arar, the Canadian deported by the U.S. to Syria where he was imprisoned and tortured, has been selected by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people.
"He is an enduring symbol of the misuse of torture, " Time's Deputy Managing Editor Adi Ignatius said from New York on Thursday.
In 2002, the Syrian-born software engineer from Ottawa was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia when he was detained by U.S. officials during a stopover in New York.
He was later deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured.
In a statement issued Thursday through the Centre for Constitutional Rights, Arar said he is very honoured to be on Time's list.
He also thanked all those who "have supported me and my family throughout this struggle for justice."
Ignatius said Arar's dignity and "his continued battle is inspirational and symbolic."
"He is a strong man who's earned his name in the list," said Ignatius whose publication made the final cut from a list of more than 1,000 names.
"We are still as mystified as he is as to why the U.S. keeps him in the watch list."
Ignatius said it was influence, not power that got Arar on the Time list.
"Influence can be a lot of things. It can also be a more symbolic inspirational sort of influence and that's where he (Arar) fits."
Arar, whose deportation was based partly on faulty intelligence supplied by Canada, was later vindicated in an inquiry ordered by Ottawa and awarded $10.5 million in compensation.
While his case is well known in Canada, Ignatius said in the U.S. people know him only as "the man who was arrested at the airport" and deported.
"But he has people who have taken up his case and are very actively fighting for him." Ignatius said.
One of them is U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, who wrote the tribute to Arar in the Time's website.
The Vermont Senator said the Arar case "stands as a sad symbol" of how the U.S. has been too willing to sacrifice core principles in the name of security.
The list of 100 most influential also includes the Queen, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, YouTube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, director Martin Scorsese and model Kate Moss.
Overall, the list includes 71 men and 29 women from 27 countries.
Arar and his wife and two children are moving back to Ottawa this summer after living in Kamloops, B.C for the past year.
Other Canadians who have made the Time 100 in the last four years are basketball player Steve Nash, veteran diplomat Stephen Lewis, author Alice Munro and founding president of Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberte.
