Filmmaker Becomes Star of Own Prison Drama

In yet another example of war time justice gone wrong, documentary filmmaker Cyrus Kar is being held in places unknown as his friends, family, and the ACLU are trying to have him freed after 2 months of unjustified detention. He was trying to film a documentary "about an ancient Persian king who championed tolerance and human rights" in Iraq. (Irony pointed out by NY Times). All this after the FBI searched his stuff (back in LA, including his computer) and found nothing of concern.

In mid-May, he traveled to Iraq with an Iranian cameraman to film archaeological sites around Babylon. After a taxi they were in was stopped in Baghdad, the two men were arrested by Iraqi security forces, who found what they suspected might be bomb parts in the vehicle.

Since then, Mr. Kar has been held in what his relatives and their lawyers describe as a frightening netherworld of American military detention in Iraq - charged with no crime but nonetheless unable to gain his freedom or even tell his family where he is being held.
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Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, who are representing Mr. Kar's relatives, said they would file a lawsuit on Wednesday in Federal District Court in Washington, accusing the government of holding Mr. Kar in violation of American and international laws and seeking his release through a writ of habeas corpus.

"Saddam Hussein has had more due process than Cyrus Kar," said Mark Rosenbaum, the lead lawyer in the case. "This is a detention policy that was drafted by Kafka."

[7/11/05 Update] The NY Times is reporting that Cyrus Kar has been released in Iraq although it may be a week or more before he can come home.