Canada's new Justice Minister is taking himself off the controversial case of Maher Arar, a Canadian deported to Syria by U.S. authorities and jailed overseas for suspected terrorist links.
Irwin Cotler, who gave free counsel to Mr. Arar's family as a Liberal MP before he was appointed last month to Prime Minister Paul Martin's cabinet, said he can't be involved in decisions regarding Mr. Arar despite a recent ruling from Ethics Counsellor Howard Wilson clearing him of any conflict of interest.
"In order to ensure that not only justice be done but that it must be seen to be done," he said, "I wanted to make sure there be no appearance of any conflict of interest."
Mr. Cotler, a renowned human-rights lawyer from Montreal who has acted as legal counsel for prisoners of conscience Nelson Mandela and Natan Sharansky, was a vocal advocate in the case of Mr. Arar up until his appointment to cabinet.
He has previously called for a public inquiry into the case but was mum on that issue at a news conference yesterday.
"Whatever I've said about the Maher Arar inquiry, I've said. And from here on in, I won't say anything more about the case because if I'm going to remove myself from the case I will no longer pronounce on this matter publicly. . . . I simply will not be involved in this case."
Mr. Arar, a 33-year-old Syrian-born Ottawa engineer, spent a year in a Syrian jail after U.S. officials picked him up at New York's Kennedy Airport in September of 2002, on his way back to Canada from a family visit in the Middle East.
Mr. Arar and his supporters called on Mr. Cotler to reconsider his decision yesterday.
"If the Minister of Justice will not be involved in discussions about my case, who will ensure that justice prevails for me and my family?" Mr. Arar asked in a prepared statement.
The minister said that he has written to the Clerk of the Privy Council with official notice he is withdrawing from any involvement in the case and that he wants to go through the proper procedures to be excluded from discussions and decision-making.
Mr. Cotler said most of the decisions in the case would fall to the Solicitor-General's Department anyway.
Kerry Pither, a spokeswoman for the Maher Arar Support Committee, said that "this case has very serious implications for our justice system, and for the Justice Minister to recuse himself entirely from any discussion on the matter seems to us to be an abdication of his responsibilities."
NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough said: "I'm profoundly disappointed. Nobody could say it's a conflict of interest for him to launch a public inquiry. He's just washed his hands of it."
Amnesty International Canada also called on Mr. Cotler to review his decision to silence himself amid growing calls for a public inquiry.
"Irwin Cotler's voice has been strong and principled, both throughout Maher's incarceration abroad and since his release," said Alex Neve, the organinzation's secretary-general.
"It is alarming and disappointing that he has now decided to absent himself from government discussions about how to ensure what happens.
"Maher Arar's case should instead be of preoccupying concern to Minister Cotler."