An Algerian Air Force officer in early September 2001 fled to Canada to ask for political asylum. On September 12 Canada turned him over to the United States. On his way to jail he first learned of the 9/11 attacks. For the next five years he was detained by our government without charges. He was threatened with return to Algeria where he would be charged with military desertion and shot. He was subjected to repeated abuse unless he confessed his involvement in 9/11. Within six months officials determined he was not involved but no one wanted to release him. He would remain behind bars in the US until Canada finally decided to accept a petition for political asylum from US custody.
"Canada was willing to take him back and turn back the clock five years," she said. "Of course, Benemar will never get those five years back."My brother Jim sent me the link.
The last detainee was deported in his prison smock without an apology. He remembers cold stares when he ate his first meal at Wendy's and went to a mall to buy clothes.
Today, there's no more soul-numbing confinement. But he's still caught in waiting game, this time to see whether Canada will grant him asylum - a decision at least six months away. He also wonders if he can regain enough spirit to start a new life.
"Now I'm not the same person," he said. "When I came to the United States, I was optimistic. I had so much energy. That's not the case now."
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