Published Date:
10 October 2007
By JAMES VICINI
IN WASHINGTON
A GERMAN citizen who says he was kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured overseas by the CIA lost his appeal yesterday when the US Supreme Court refused to review a decision dismissing the case because it would expose state secrets.
Attorneys for Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent, argued in the high court appeal that his lawsuit did not depend on the disclosure of state secrets.
Masri's claims that he was abducted in Macedonia, flown to Afghanistan and tortured, has drawn worldwide attention to the CIA's rendition programme, in which terrorism suspects are sent from one foreign country to another for interrogation.
Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union said: "If Khaled el-Masri's case is a state secret, then virtually every case of executive misconduct can be swept under the rug.
"This case is not about secrecy. It's about immunity for crimes against humanity."
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Last Updated:
09 October 2007 9:47 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
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Related Topics:
CIA 'torture flights'
