Khalid El-Masri - El Masri Wins in European Human Rights Court

El Masri Wins in European Human Rights Court

On December 13, 2012, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Mr. El Masri had been tortured while in CIA custody, under the responsibility of the Macedonian Police. Mr. El Masri was accorded 60,000 Euros by the Court. Mr. El Masri's abduction, detention and torture in Macedonia, and subsequent rendition to Afghanistan was called a forced disappearance by the Court. The United States was called-upon to apologize to Mr. El Masri for his treatment, by the Open Society Institute, which supported his case, before the Grand Chamber. James Goldston, Executive Director of the Open Society Justice Initiative stated that,

"... for Mr. El-Masri, the most important thing that he was hoping for was to have the European court officially acknowledge what he did and say that what he's been claiming is in fact true and it was in fact a breach of the law... It's an extraordinary ruling."

The Court stated that El-Masri's allegations were established "beyond reasonable doubt," given they were supported by previous investigations into flight logs, as well as forensic evidence.

Prior to this ruling, El-Masri attempted recourse in several courts, including lodging a lawsuit in the United States in 2005, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The lawsuit ACLU filed on behalf of El-Masri against CIA Director George Tenet was dismissed on the state secrets privilege. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case.

Goldston, Director of the Open Society Justice Initiative stated his hopes that ECHR ruling could spark further investigations of the CIA rendition program, as well as "all these kinds of cases where allegations of abuse arise from counter-terrorism practices."