Canadian Maher Arar testified before a European parliamentary committee in Brussels on Thursday about his terrifying ordeal in a Syrian jail.
The panel is looking into allegations that the CIA has used European airports as a stopover destination for suspected terrorists before sending them to countries known for administering torture.
In September 2002, the 35-year-old Arar was in New York en route to Canada after a vacation in Tunisia. Instead of returning home, he was detained by American officials under terrorist suspicions and deported to his native country of Syria.
Arar told the EU committee that FBI agents confiscated his Canadian passport, chained his wrists and ankles, and asked him if he would voluntarily return to Syria.
He alleged that he was held in New York for several days of interrogations before being driven to New Jersey where he was whisked away on a private jet.
The Canadian citizen said he was then flown to Washington, Maine, Rome and Jordan.
"I overheard them saying they belonged to a special removal unit,'' Arar told the EU committee.
Without any charges laid, Arar was kept in a Syrian jail almost a year where he says he was tortured and beaten by officials.
"I am a victim of extraordinary rendition,'' Arar said. "I am not a terrorist, I don't know anyone from al Qaeda, I have never been to Afghanistan.''
The practice, known as rendition, is used by countries to extract information from those believed to have terrorist connections. Under the practice, a suspect is sent to a country that condones torture in the hope that they will buckle and give up information.
The EU is investigating if U.S. authorities violated Europe's human rights' treaties in the alleged renditions.
In May, members of the committee plan to visit the U.S. to speak to officials about the alleged cases. They will also visit Macedonian officials in April to investigate another case of a Kuwaiti-born German citizen who alleges that he was tortured after being flown to Afghanistan.
Arar, an Ottawa-based wireless technology consultant, has routinely denied any connection to terrorist activities.
In his first trip since being freed from the Syrian prison in 2003, Arar said that he was overcoming his fear of flying because of the importance of the committee.
"I am very nervous, given my experience, about boarding any flight," Arar said in a March 17 posting on his website.
"Given the very important work the European Parliament's Committee is doing to investigate cases like mine, I have decided it is my responsibility to attend and assist."
The White House has repeatedly said it does not condone torture but Arar hopes his legal action in the U.S. courts will prove differently.
In February, a U.S. federal judge rejected Arar's lawsuit against American officials saying he couldn't interfere with a case involving national security.
"I first took my plea to the U.S. courts, but the judge rejected my case," Arar said after the decision.
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a New York-based legal group representing Arar, plan to appeal the judge's decision.
"The court gave a green light to the administration to outsource torture in the name of 'national security'," CCR lawyer Maria LaHood told Canadian Press. "Mr. Arar will not be silenced."
In Canada, under the former Liberal government, an inquiry was launched to find out the extent of any Canadian involvement in the Arar case. The conclusions of the inquiry are expected to be released in the summer.
With files from Canadian Press and Associated Press
