Maher Arar - Awards and Accolades

Awards and Accolades

TIME magazine chose Arar as "Canadian Newsmaker of the Year" for 2004. On October 18, 2006, Arar and the Center for Constitutional Rights were honoured with the Institute for Policy Studies Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award, in recognition of the struggle to clear his name and draw attention to American abuses of human rights in dealing with terrorist suspects. Arar, along with Sergeant Patrick Tower, was chosen a co-Nation Builder by The Globe and Mail for 2006. In April 2007, TIME magazine named Arar to the TIME 100, its annual listing of 100 influential people in the world. Arar's entry, at No. 58 in the Heroes & Pioneers category, was written by US Senator Patrick Leahy and says his case "stands as a sad example of how we have been too willing to sacrifice our core principles to overarching government power in the name of security, when doing so only undermines the principles we stand for and makes us less safe." The US would not allow him entry to attend Time's recognition event.

In 2011, Arar endorsed the Canadian ship to Gaza, part of the Freedom Flotilla II which aims to end the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.