I was aware of the Italian case, and had heard of this one, but wasn't aware Germany was trying to prosecute.
You have to expect even an ally to be pissed if your government agents secretly kidnap one of their citizens and haul him off to be tortured for a few months. Especially if it was a "mistake."
From the article:
"Around the time of Masri's release, U.S. diplomats privately informed Otto Schily, then Germany's interior minister, that a German citizen had been mistakenly detained under the CIA's program of 'extraordinary renditions,' or the extrajudicial abduction of Islamic radicals who are secretly taken to allied countries for interrogation.
"In December 2005, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged in a meeting in Berlin that Masri had been 'erroneously taken.' But Rice and other U.S. officials have denied any fault or responsibility in the case."
I've always been really glad that its not my job to make decisions about programs like the "extraordinary rendition" program. I think I'd probably have authorized it and then have to live with cases like this on my conscience. When we know it was a mistake, we should at least have the decency to throw a few million dollars at the victim to settle the case -- like we're doing with the Canadian citizen.
S_A_M
