Arar Demands Action From the Tory Government

This Conservative government has already developed the aggravating habit of declaring that something is dealt with just because they say it is and then moving onto other things so they don't have to address the consequences of their actions or lack thereof. No doubt they're hoping that once Maher Arar receives his monetary settlement and a faint-hearted apology, they can just forget about what happened and refuse to be accountable for issues that still cause Mr Arar and his family a tremendous amunt of pain.

Mr Arar and his lawyer released statements Friday morning in response to the resignation of RCMP chire Zaccardelli (video here) and there are at least two outstanding concerns that they would like to see taken care of:

Speaking during a telephone news conference Friday, Arar said the resignation of RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, which was announced Thursday, does not achieve the level of accountability he is seeking.

"Two years ago one of my main objectives was to hold those people responsible for what happened to me resulting from their actions. I wanted to make sure they could never destroy another person's life the way they destroyed mine. Today I am still waiting for that objective."

"For real accountability to happen there are two things that need to be done without delay."

First, Arar said, Prime Minister Stephen Harper must order the full O'Connor report released, including portions previously withheld that may name those responsible for leaking false information about Arar.

"Those people who damaged my reputation, as Justice O'Connor clearly stated, he said they did it intentionally to protect themselves and damage my reputation."

Secondly, Arar called for an independent and impartial investigation into how it happened in order to avoid similar situations in future.

Arar's lawyer Julian Falconer said the parties responsible for the fiasco must be identified and held accountable.

The tories keep touting themselves as the party of accountability and they have proven themselves to be anything but. Apparently, Justice O'Connor and other legal experts have stated that the redacted sections involved in perhaps identifying those leakers are not a matter of so-called national security. Why, then, is this government keeping them hidden and why have those responsible not been appropriately dealt with?

Mr Arar and his family have suffered enough and this government has no right to add to that sad reality.