EL MASRI CASE BEFORE THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
FIRST COURT CASE TO ADDRESS ABDUCTIONS CARRIED OUT AS PART OF "THE WAR ON TERROR"
The
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will hear the case of Khaled El
Masri. This was disclosed by the Open Society Justice Initiative, which
initiated the charge. This is the first time the court has investigated the
possible responsibility of a European state- in this case Macedonia- for its
participation in human rights abuses committed under the heading of the "War on
Terror". The German citizen Khaled El Masri was abducted by CIA officials at
the Serbian-Macedonian border on 31. December 2003. The officials had
mistakenly identified El Masri as a member of Al Qaida and a possible
participant in a Neu-Ulm-based terrorist cell.
In June 2008 ECCHR filed a complaint against the Federal Republic of Germany at the Constitutional Court in Berlin. The complaint called for extradition requests to be issued for the 13 CIA agents suspected of participating in the abduction. Further information on ECCHR and the El Masri case and the latest press reports can be found here.
In June 2008 ECCHR filed a complaint against the Federal Republic of Germany at the Constitutional Court in Berlin. The complaint called for extradition requests to be issued for the 13 CIA agents suspected of participating in the abduction. Further information on ECCHR and the El Masri case and the latest press reports can be found here.