TORONTO – Canada’s national police force is charging a former Syrian military intelligence officer for allegedly torturing a Canadian engineer transferred by the U.S. to an overseas detention center.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Tuesday it has filed a torture charge against George Salloum for his involvement in the torture of Maher Arar.
Arar says he was mistaken for a terrorist in 2002 when he changed planes in New York while returning to Canada from a visit to relatives in Tunisia. He was then sent to Syria, where he says he was tortured.
A Canadian investigation found police wrongly labeled Arar an Islamic extremist and passed inaccurate information to U.S. authorities. The inquiry determined that Arar was tortured.
Salloum’s fate is unclear as Syria remains engulfed in war.
Leave a Reply