German prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for thirteen CIA operatives linked to the kidnapping and torture of German citizen Khaled El-Masri. Allegedly, the CIA, with the help of Macedonian security agents, abducted a German citizen while on vacation in Macedonia on suspicions of terrorist activities. They then transferred him to a secret prison in Afghanistan where El-Masri was held and tortured for five months. After the CIA was satisfied that he couldn't help them in their "investigation", he was finally released and abandoned in the mountains of Albania. This allegation is in line with other examples of a known United States' practice referred to "Extraordinary Rendition". It is just another violation of human rights and American values that has been establish by this administration and excused as a necessary evil in the war against terror. Democracy Now! does a good job higlighting some key aspects of this issue.
Check out this video of Senator Patrick Leahy grilling Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the issue of another victim of Extraordinary Rendition, Maher Arar. Arar is a Canadian citizen who was detained by the FBI at JFK Airport on his way back to Toronto from a vacation overseas. He was then transported to Syria where he was imprisoned and tortured. Sen. Leahy tries to familiarize the Attorney General with the Constitution.
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