Four Muslims detained by the U.S. for months without charge after the Sept. 11 attacks filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government for illegal detention and abuse.
The four men were allowed to return to the United States to participate in the case, but only under tough conditions including confinement to their hotel rooms and a ban on speaking to anybody outside the case.
The men, who were cleared of any charges, say they suffered inhumane and degrading treatment in a Brooklyn detention center, including solitary confinement, severe beatings, incessant verbal abuse and a total blackout on communications with their families and attorneys.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, which is handling the men’s case, say that they will be deposed over the next two weeks in a class action suit against the U.S. government over the treatment of more than 1,200 Muslim and South Asian men caught after Sept. 11.
CCR legal director Bill Goodman says the government’s restrictions on the men were highly unusual in a civil case and a sign of what he called government "paranoia over Muslim and Middle Eastern men."
The four are among eight named plaintiffs in the case, which names former Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, immigration officials and prison officers among the defendants. The suit, originally filed in 2002, seeks compensation and punitive damages.
Abuse
A 2003 report by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General showed that some prison officers slammed prisoners against walls, twisted their arms and hands in painful ways, stepped on their leg restraint chains and punished them by keeping them restrained for long periods.
The report also said videotapes showed that some prison officers "misused strip searches and restraints to punish detainees and that officers improperly and illegally recorded detainees' meetings with their attorneys."
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it fired two people, demoted two more and six had been suspended for periods from two days to 30 days.
"It means a lot to our clients that finally someone is being held accountable for the brutality they experienced," said CCR attorney Matthew Strugar.
"But we believe the responsibility for these abuses goes further up the chain of command at the Bureau of Prisons and we are disappointed more individuals have not yet been held accountable."
Source: Reuters
The four men were allowed to return to the United States to participate in the case, but only under tough conditions including confinement to their hotel rooms and a ban on speaking to anybody outside the case.
The men, who were cleared of any charges, say they suffered inhumane and degrading treatment in a Brooklyn detention center, including solitary confinement, severe beatings, incessant verbal abuse and a total blackout on communications with their families and attorneys.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, which is handling the men’s case, say that they will be deposed over the next two weeks in a class action suit against the U.S. government over the treatment of more than 1,200 Muslim and South Asian men caught after Sept. 11.
CCR legal director Bill Goodman says the government’s restrictions on the men were highly unusual in a civil case and a sign of what he called government "paranoia over Muslim and Middle Eastern men."
The four are among eight named plaintiffs in the case, which names former Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, immigration officials and prison officers among the defendants. The suit, originally filed in 2002, seeks compensation and punitive damages.
Abuse
A 2003 report by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General showed that some prison officers slammed prisoners against walls, twisted their arms and hands in painful ways, stepped on their leg restraint chains and punished them by keeping them restrained for long periods.
The report also said videotapes showed that some prison officers "misused strip searches and restraints to punish detainees and that officers improperly and illegally recorded detainees' meetings with their attorneys."
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it fired two people, demoted two more and six had been suspended for periods from two days to 30 days.
"It means a lot to our clients that finally someone is being held accountable for the brutality they experienced," said CCR attorney Matthew Strugar.
"But we believe the responsibility for these abuses goes further up the chain of command at the Bureau of Prisons and we are disappointed more individuals have not yet been held accountable."
Source: Reuters