Germany Urged to Aid El-Masri's Quest for Justice

The Open Society Justice Initiative has sent a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel concerning the case of extraordinary rendition victim Khaled El-Masri. The letter requested that Merkel confirm, as was widely reported in 2005, that the United States government privately admitted to making an error in El-Masri's case.

The German government's response referred the Justice Initiative to Merkel's previous remarks relating to a meeting with Condoleeza Rice on December 6, 2005. According to Merkel's account of the discussion, the U.S. accepted that it had made an error in detaining El-Masri.

The initial letter and Germany's response are available for download.

A German citizen, Khaled El-Masri was seized by Macedonian security forces in December 2003 at the U.S. government's request. He was held—incommunicado—by the Macedonian authorities for 23 days, despite numerous requests to see a German consular official. El-Masri was then handed over to the CIA and flown to a detention center in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was interrogated and abused. After several months, he was finally released. He was never charged with a crime or given any explanation for his treatment.

An investigation into the case remains open in Germany. A German prosecutor has also issued arrest warrants against 13 CIA agents allegedly involved in El-Masri's rendition, but no further steps to apprehend the agents have been taken.