In September 2002 Maher Arar, who holds dual Canadian and Syrian citizenship and lives in Canada, was detained by U.S. authorities in transit through Kennedy Airport in New York. He was taken to Syria where he was held in a dark cell for ten months and repeatedly struck and beaten with cables. Subsequently he was released without charge. The order to deport Arar to Syria was signed by then-Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson. The State Department has condemned Syria for the use of torture including use of electrical shocks, beating, and pulling out fingernails.