Legal Commentary

Where is Mustafa Setmariam Nassar?

By Jeralyn

Mustafa Setmariam Nassar, a Spanish citizen, has been reported by the media to have been forcibly seized in Pakistan in 2005 and turned over to U.S. Custody. He hasn't been heard from since.

The ACLU and other human rights groups are asking two U.N. Special Rapporteurs and the U.N. Working Group on Involuntary or Enforced Disappearances to investigate as their attempts have resulted in dead ends.

In June 2009, in response to an American Civil Liberties Union request for information about Nassar's whereabouts, the CIA stated that it could "neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records" responsive to the request.

Although information about Nassar's disappearance is scarce, the known details suggest he was a victim of the unlawful "extraordinary rendition" program, which enabled the U.S., with the assistance of other governments, to kidnap and transport foreign nationals suspected of terrorism to secret overseas detention facilities for interrogation and torture.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 03, 2009 (boomark / email).