US Criticized in Europe on Torture and Rendition Cases
Khaled el-Masri (right), with his lawyer, Manfred Gnjidic, ahead of a court case in 2007. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Michael Dalder)
Two cases involving CIA torture and extraordinary rendition of terror suspects made the news Thursday.
German citizen, Khaled el-Masri, won a case before the European Court of Human Rights about his abduction and torture in 2003.
The court ordered the republic of Macedonia to compensate him to the tune of $78,500, for its role in facilitating his abduction, which led to his secret transfer to Afghanistan, where he was brutally interrogated for four months.
Eventually he convinced his captors he was innocent and he was released.
The court said the CIA’s role was proven ‘beyond reasonable doubt.’
Meanwhile, Libyan citizen, Sami al-Saadi, reached an out-of-court settlement with the British government for $3 million for the British role in his abduction and rendition by the CIA to Libya, where he was tortured for years.
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