Khalid El-Masri (also Khaled El-Masri and Khaled Masri, Arabic: خالد المصري) (born June 29, 1963) is a German citizen who was kidnapped in the Republic of Macedonia, flown to Afghanistan, beaten, strip-searched, interrogated and allegedly tortured by the CIA for several months, first in Macedonia, then in Afghanistan. After two hunger strikes, and four months in the CIA's renound "Salt Pit",the CIA finally admitted his arrest and torture was based on an unverified "hunch" of a CIA officer and released him.
A U.S. State Department cable, dated February 2007, makes clear that the United States pressured the German Justice administration to not press charges against the CIA, citing that Italian relations had suffered pending Italy's prosecution of CIA officers in another 1996 rendition-and-torture case. In 2011, El Masri, supported by the ACLU, was refused recourse in the United States, due to the state secrets privilege.
On December 13, 2012, Mr. El Masri won an Art. 34 case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. There, it was acertained that El Masri was tortured by the CIA while in the hands of the Macedonian Police. This marked the first time that the CIA activities against detainees was formally declared 'torture'.
Read more about Khalid El-Masri: Personal History, Abduction and CIA Torture in Macedonia, Held in The CIA 'Salt Pit' in Afghanistan, Release and CIA Response, Timeline of Events, Legal Troubles, El Masri Wins in European Human Rights Court