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Anthony: Today, we saw justice on behalf of a man who was kidnapped, drugged, tortured,
and abused by the US government. We heard arguments from the US government that claims
justice on his behalf would jeopardize national security. Yet the world knows quite well the
story, and the suffering, of Khaled El-Masri. We believe it is just untenable, and un-American,
to argue that the issues and the torture and the abuse that this man has suffered is outside
the jurisdiction of any court. We believe that America stands for more than that, and
that the most egregious violations of human rights surely must be justiciable in an American
court of law. If not before an American court of law, before what court can Mr. El-Masri
seek justice? He is living proof of the failed, tortured policies of the Bush administration.
We are delighted today, for the first time, to have made our arguments in earnest, and
to have three sitting federal judges take them as seriously as they are.
Ben: Khaled El-Masri is an innocent man who was snatched off the street, brutally tortured,
chained to an airplane, flown to a foreign land, and left in a foul dungeon. The United
States made a mistake. When it realized it made a mistake, it did not apologize to him;
it did not make amends. It put him back on an airplane, flew him back to a country that
was not his own, and left him abandoned on a hilltop.
When we brought this lawsuit to seek justice for Khaled El-Masri, the United States has
essentially done the same thing: rather than taking this opportunity to apologize to this
innocent victim of our anti-terror policies, the United States, instead, contends that
discussion in a federal court of what the entire world already knows, will somehow harm
the nation. That argument is not plausible. It's being used, not to protect national security,
but to avoid embarrassment and accountability. Khaled El-Masri, who faced this treatment
from the United States, has had the immense courage to get back on a plane and to fly
to this country, to hear his case argued in this court, and to tell the American people
why he's here. I'm so proud to be able to introduce my client, Khaled El-Masri.
Translator: I was very happy to be allowed to finally enter the United States, in order
to present my case in person and through my attorneys. I have confidence in the American
judicial systems and its courts. What I really want is that they admit to me that an injustice
was done to me. I would like an explanation, and I would like an apology. I was humiliated,
I was beaten, I was drugged, and I was taken to Afghanistan against my will. There, they
made it clear, right from the onset, they said, "You are in a country where there is
no rule of law." I was held a captive for five months under
deplorable conditions. It is not exaggerated to say that the conditions were not fit for
human beings at all. After five months, they simply took me back and dropped me, like a
piece of luggage, in the woods in Albania, and said they didn't want to know anything
about this; they didn't want to hear anything about this any more. Thank you.
Ben: The President's announcement in September, of what the world already knew, that is, that
the CIA has been operating detention centers around the world, shows that this administration
uses national security for political reasons. When it suits the President to divulge this
information, he'll have a rose garden ceremony. Yet, when the administration is called to
account for a mistake that it's made in its anti-terror policy, it insists that these
very same issues cannot be discussed. The world is watching this courtroom, but
they're not watching to learn the secrets of our intelligence methods. They're watching
to see if the United States of America can give justice to an innocent victim of its
anti-terror policies. If we shut the courthouse doors to Khaled El-Masri, that will have a
terrible effect on the willingness of other countries to cooperate with our government,
and the belief of other countries that we are a model of democracy and fair play.
He brought this lawsuit because he wants an acknowledgment that these events occurred
to him. He wants an explanation of why they occurred to him, and he wants an apology from
relevant United States officials. Anthony: Thank you.
Ben: Thank you all for coming.