Maher Arar is a wireless network consultant out of Montreal, Quebec. He took a trip from Zurich back home to Montreal on September 26, 2002. His trip had a stopover at JFK airport in New York City. To make a long story short, the United States rendered him to Syria, where he was tortured for ten months.

He has had several lawsuits against the extraordinary rendition. According to the New York Times, the Second Circuit Court of New York dismissed his lawsuit.

The court decided:

With respect to the other jurisdictional questions raised on this appeal, we conclude that (1) the allegations set forth in plaintiff’s complaint are sufficient, at this early stage of the litigation, to establish personal jurisdiction over defendants not resident in New York, but (2) plaintiff has not established federal subject matter jurisdiction over his claim for declaratory relief. Furthermore, we hold that (3) plaintiff’s allegations do
not state a claim against defendants for damages under the TVPA and (4) in light of the determinations of Congress and precedents of the Supreme Court and our Court, we cannot judicially create a cause of action for damages under the Fifth Amendment, for Arar, pursuant to the doctrine of Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971).