TheAgitator.com
Abducted, Tortured, Abandoned, Denied His Day in Court
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008Here’s more on the case of Khaled al-Masri, the German citizen who says he was kidnapped by the CIA, whisked off to Afghanistan, tortured, then dumped in rural Albania after the CIA realized they had an innocent man. The Supreme Court threw out al-Masri’s lawsuit against the U.S. government last year, siding with the Bush administration’s claims that such a suit would expose “state secrets,” a bullshit doctrine perpetrated on a fraud that the Bush administration uses quite frequently to cover up its mistakes. Note that to date, no government has denied that al-Masri was abducted and tortured, or that he’s innocent.
The U.S. and German governments are only arguing that holding anyone accountability for it would compromise national security.
This is scary stuff.
A non US citizen never touching US soil, should have no access to US courts.
Are you joking?
You think the U.S. government should be free to swipe foreign nationals off the streets and torture them, and if they get the wrong guy be held completely unaccountable?
What makes you think a government capable of that kind of evil won’t eventually do the same thing to its own citizens?
“A non US citizen never touching US soil, should have no access to US courts.”
Anyone who is violated by the US Govt should be able to seek a remedy through the use of our courts. The US Govt seems to go out of its way to keep people from using our own system. There is something wrong with that mindset.
TrooperJJ,
If you were abducted off the street by German or Italian government operatives and poorly treated for no reason, you would not expect any recourse?
The Federal government is run by power-hungry self-serving mobsters whose activities are limited only by what they think they can get away with. How they plan to excuse it is at the core of every decision they make.
Keep that in mind when you vote and you won’t be disappointed in the years following the election.
Besides offending our sensibilities, that idea isn’t consistent with what the constitution actually says: Article III Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;–to all cases affecting… …and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.”
People forget Jose Padilla (wasn’t extradited to a foreign country) had similar tactics used against him and he WAS a US Citizen. So it’s not even worth uttering “just imagine if this happened to a US citizen”. It did and most of country could care less.
A non-US citizen should have access to the courts if the actions of the US affect him. The US implicitly granted him jurisdiction when they abducted him.
The US seems happy to haul dictators (e.g. Panama), or foreign companies into court for “overpriced” diamonds (e.g. DeBeers) or threatens to do the same for “overpriced” oil (OPEC). However, when a citizen of a friendly, foreign nation (i.e. Germany, home to many US bases) is abducted, tortured and left for dead on a mountain in Albania, we hide behind “state secrets” to deny him a day in court. Is it any wonder that the US has a poor international reputation?
PS to the trolls: I am libertarian conservative, and not much in love with International Law. However, as a matter of smart foreign policy, it is important to be seen to be even handed.
Of course he should have recourse to US courts. The CIA agents involced should probably also be held criminally liable in German courts, which doesn’t seem to be happening.
Is was lucky he didn’t receive a round in the temple and left for the vultures. So, atl least we’re not murderers, I hope…
Still, horrible form for us. Protector of freedom, fighting terror, by being terrorists ourselves. For shame.
I didn’t say they should be held unaccountable. I said that US courts should not have juristiction. The foriegn goverments with juristiction are free to proceed, they have wisely decided not to go forward.
ParatrooperJJ:
“A non US citizen never touching US soil, should have no access to US courts.”
“I didn’t say they should be held unaccountable. I said that US courts should not have juristiction. The foriegn goverments with juristiction are free to proceed, they have wisely decided not to go forward.”
Premise: ridiculous. Conclusion: glorification of criminality.
Who the precise f*ck IS going to hold them accountable then? Albania?
Non resident non citizens have no standing in US courts and are not entitled to due process.
American justice is for Americans. Not foreigners.
Apparently neither Paratrooper or Bill are literate, as they apparently couldn’t comprehend Article III Section 2 of THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, which Chance was polite enough to provide us with: The Judicial power of the United States of America, “American Justice,” not might, not may, but shall extend to any conflict between our government and our citizenry and foreign governments and their citizenry, or as Bill so civilly put it, ‘them thar’ “foreigners”.
I’ll put that into ‘stupid-people’ terms for the both of them:
JUSTICE is for EVERYONE, regardless of nationality!