Kidnapped by the CIA - The case of Khaled el-Masri | DW Documentary

In 2004, Khaled el-Masri is kidnapped by the CIA. A German citizen with Lebanese roots, el-Masri is flown to a prison near Kabul, where he undergoes months of torture. All the while, he maintains his innocence.

This film tells the story of how geopolitical power and interests destroyed Khaled el-Masri's life.

On a bus trip near the Macedonian border in late 2003, el-Masri disappears. The CIA takes him to a secret prison in Afghanistan, on the suspicion of being a member of al-Qaeda. However, it is a case of mistaken identity.

After his release, El-Masri goes public with his story. Thanks to him, the U.S. intelligence community's post-9/11 Extraordinary Rendition Program - under which people are abducted from one state and taken to another -- came to light.

In the years following the kidnapping, el-Masri fights in vain for an apology, and the restoration of his dignity. Neither the German nor U.S. governments address his allegations, although then-German Interior Minister Otto Schily was informed of el-Masri's case by U.S. authorities shortly before his release. El-Masri, traumatized by torture, becomes an arsonist, beats up the mayor of Neu-Ulm and is sent to prison for a total of five years. Deeply disappointed, he leaves Germany.

In December 2012, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg recognized el-Masri's rendition to the CIA as a violation of his fundamental human rights. Macedonia is ordered to pay 60,000 euros in compensation for his pain and suffering.

This documentary tells the story of an abuse of power, followed by apathy: How Khaled el-Masri and his family became victims of an unlawful state intervention, and how the German government simply gave in to the illegal demands of its American friends.

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