IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN DETAINEES LITIGATION

the case is thrown
out on Mar 27, 2007 and is still too new to have a real cite, because
the courts says that combatants don't have the constitutional right
to not be tortured (not because allegations cannot be proven - at
this stage everything is assumed true) - but the allegations are so
outrageous I thought you guys might want to read it - i realize this
is just part of the story - but even though this is a federal case
there really hasn't been any press and I'm not sure anyone even hears
this stuff anymore


The plaintiffs assert that they were tortured and otherwise subjected
to cruel, inhuman and degrading acts during their detentions. Pls.'
Opp'n Br. 4.

To be more explicit, Mehboob Ahmad alleges that a chain was used to
hang him upside-down from the ceiling, in which position he remained
for several hours while "military personnel slapped and pushed him in
order to cause his body to swing ... resulting in his loss of
consciousness, then, after providing him with medical attention and
reviving him, again hanging him upside-down from the ceiling with a
chain for several more hours, again leading to loss of
consciousness." Am. Compl. ¶ 174. Mr. Ahmad also was manacled to a
chain used to pull him upward and drop him to the ground, repeatedly
pushed and kicked, subjected to electrical shocks until he lost
consciousness, stripped and anally probed, and forced to hang by his
arms while hooded and an aggressive dog "grab [bed] and pull[ed] at
his arms and legs." Am. Compl. ¶ 174.

Said Siddiqi was forced to remain in a push-up position while doused
with water and then beaten if he failed to sustain the position,
stripped naked and photographed, anally probed, deprived of water for
prolonged periods, and detained in a room flooded with water. Am.
Compl. ¶ 178.
Mohammad Shirullah was assaulted in the head "so fiercely and
repeatedly" that he ruptured an eardrum, and was forced to remain in
painful physical positions for prolonged periods, such as sitting in
a space with no back support while his wrists and legs were tied and
his eyes and ears were covered. Am. Compl. ¶ 182.

Haji Rahman alleges that interrogators used a chain to force his arms
upward while they were handcuffed behind his back and he was in a
kneeling position with blackout goggles on, loud noises and bright
lights were used to deprive him of sleep, he was anally probed
multiple times, stripped naked in front of other people and
photographed, and forced to wear blackout goggles and sound-deadening
headphones for prolonged periods to induce sensory deprivation. Am.
Compl. ¶ 186.

Arkan Ali was beaten to unconsciousness, forcibly restrained and
stabbed with a knife in his forearm, burned or shocked, locked for
days in a phone-booth-sized wood box while stripped naked and hooded,
urinated on, shackled with his hands behind his head while his head
was stepped on and the shackles pulled, denied sleep and then dragged
face down and beaten for falling asleep, chained to a metal container
while kicked, spit on, choked, and threatened with a guard dog,
threatened with death by having a gun placed to his head and a round
chambered, mock executed by threat of being run down by a military
vehicle, threatened with slaughter by sword, and denied food and
water. Am. Compl. ¶ 190.

Thahe Sabar was severely beaten while handcuffed, hit in the
genitals, forced to "run through a gauntlet of 10 to 20 uniformed
soldiers who were screaming at [him] and beating [him] with wooden
batons," electrically shocked, sexually assaulted by soldiers who
inserted their fingers in his anus and fondled his buttocks and
penis, placed before a mock firing squad with simulated gunfire,
placed in a cage of live lions, hooded and shackled in such a way as
to cause breathing difficulties, bleeding and loss of consciousness,
deprived of food or fed spoiled food that caused vomiting, denied
access to toilets while shackled so he soiled his pants, and
subjected to the desecration of the Quran. Am. Compl. ¶ 195.

Sherzad Khalid was randomly kicked and punched while shackled and
hooded, subjected to simulated anal rape by having a water bottle
pressed against the seat of his pants, threatened with sodomy by use
of a wooden pole, restrained and hooded in such as way as to impair
his breathing and vision, shackled to a fence with his hands behind
him in extreme temperatures without food or water, put in a cage of
live lions, and placed before a mock firing squad. Am. Compl. ¶ 200.
Ali H. was shot when arrested and had the bullets removed without
anesthesia, shackled for prolonged periods with his hands behind his
back and feet spread, denied medical treatment after sustaining a
life-threatening shrapnel wound during a mortar attack while
detained, dragged to and from locations after abdominal surgery,
refused bandage changes thereby leading to infection, and forced to
sleep unsheltered outdoors in extreme temperatures while injured. Am.
Compl. ¶ 205.

Najeeb Ahmed was subjected to:a scheme to humiliate, sexually
assault, and physically injure Plaintiff Ahmed, by throwing him to
the ground, stepping on his neck and legs, sitting on his back and
feet, tying him with extremely tight restraints on his wrists, then
calling a group of 10 to 12 U.S. soldiers to come into the room. The
soldiers taped toy animals to Plaintiff Ahmed's head and shoulder and
chanted racial epithets at him. A soldier kicked the soles of [his]
feet. A soldier put a gun to his head. Another approached him in a
menacing way and then spat in his face. A soldier stepped on his
head. When Plaintiff Ahmed begged for water because he was sweating
and suffering from chest pains, a solder approached him, exposed his
penis, told Plaintiff Ahmed to drink, and then unzipped Plaintiff
Ahmed's pants. Soldiers shone a bright beam of light in Plaintiff
Ahmed's face. During all these proceedings, soldiers videotaped and
photographed Plaintiff Ahmed.

I don't know why, but I was surprised that a case like this would
go unreported.... in case you are interested I have attached the
case and the complaint which sets forth all the allegations.

And its not just rotten apples, the complaint refers to a Dec 26,
2002 Washington Post article -
Discussing the interrogation of detainees at the U.S. military
base by agents of the Central Intelligence Agency, the article
quoted a U.S. government
official as follows:

" [I]f you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time,
you probably aren't doing your job.''

"In December 2002, two Afghan detainees, Mullah Habibullah and
Dilawar, were killed in U.S. custody at the Bagram detention
facility while being interrogated by members of the 519th Military
Intelligence Battalion. Both men were chained to the ceiling by
their wrists in isolation cells. Upon information and belief, they
were both severely beaten by U.S. military personnel. Upon
information and belief, the chaining of prisoners to the ceilings
of isolation cells for long periods of time was a standard practice
well known to U.S. military officers at Bagram in 2002. Although
U.S. military physicians concluded that the cause of the detainees'
deaths was homicide, the commander of U.S. military forces in
Afghanistan continued to insist publicly that the two detainees had
died of natural causes."

The full allegations of the specific abuses the plaintiffs in the
action suffered are laid out in Paragraphs 173-202.

The decision reads exactly as one who understands the power
hierarchy would expect - holding that those not in power don't have
the right to not be abused, and that those in power are free to
torture those not in power (the judge uses the legal terms for this
like "qualified immunity" and "absolute immunity;")  Even the
judge, before starting on his logical progression to deciding that
as a federal judge he cannot find a single law that is being
broken, properly categorizes the allegations as "horrifying." 
(Which is especially impressive since one of the first things they
teach you in legal writing is to not use adjectives).

Please continue to spread the word.  Enlightenment is the first step.