Alleged Obama-Era Rendition Victim Accuses US of Torture, Coercion [View All]

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Source: Democracy Now!

A Lebanese contractor named Raymond Azar says he’s the first known victim of rendition under President Obama. Azar alleges that he was coerced into confessing to bribing a contract officer after being seized and tortured by armed federal agents in Afghanistan. We speak with attorney and legal expert Scott Horton about Azar’s case.

AMY GOODMAN: (snip)

Raymond Azar is a Lebanese construction manager who works for Sima International, a contractor employed by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Azar alleges he was coerced into confessing to bribing a contract officer after being seized and tortured by armed federal agents in Afghanistan. He says he was hooded, shackled, photographed naked, strip-searched, subjected to extreme cold temperatures and sleep deprivation, and forcibly transported from Bagram, Afghanistan to the United States. A US federal agent also reportedly threatened Azar with never seeing his family again.

Upon landing in the US, Azar was formally arrested and faces charges in a federal antitrust case.

The Department of Justice refuses to call this a rendition and says the charges of torture are, quote, “hyperbolic.”

For more on this story, we are joined by legal expert Scott Horton.

More: http://i1.democracynow.org/2009/8/13/alleged_obama_era_rendition_victim_accuses