Former Guantanamo inmate sues US

[Whoa_Nelly]

Former Guantanamo inmate sues US


By Zaffar Abbas
BBC correspondent in Islamabad

A man who was imprisoned by the US military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is suing the Pakistani and US governments for damages worth over $10m.
Pakistani cleric Mohammed Sagheer was seized by US troops fighting in Afghanistan in 2001.

<snip>
He says he was kept for more than a year in a prison cell that was like a cage meant for animals.

During this period he says he was treated in the worst possible manner and was repeatedly interrogated about his links to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

more...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3241265.stm

[Say_What]

1. Anybody ever hear about the CHILDREN being held at GITMO?

I haven't heard anything about them in a long time.

[Minstrel Boy]

2. So long ago they're probably adults now, so it's all okay

stop worrying, trust your government, have a choco ration.

[Say_What]

3. Amnesty International report denounces US treatment of war prisoners

Only this article from September that I can find even mentions the kids.

<clips>

...Although AI investigators were unable to determine how many children are imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, they extracted a statement from Paul Butler, US deputy assistant secretary of defence, who admitted that the military was holding a “very small number” of detainees under the age of 16. He claimed it was “difficult to determine the exact age for the detainees, as birth records are not readily available”.

AI also cites General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who “justifies” this violation of basic rights by declaring, without any evidence, that the children were terrorists. “Despite their age, these are very, very dangerous people,” Myers declared. “They may be juveniles, but they’re not on a little-league team... they’re on a major league team, and it’s a terrorist team.”

Irrespective of the precise age of the children or the allegations against them, it is a criminal offence under international law and the various human rights protocols to hold anyone under the age of 18 as a war prisoner. The US is a signatory to 17 protocols adopted by the Geneva Convention in 1949 to protect children in war zones and other measures established under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.

<http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/sep2003/amne-s25.shtml>

[Trek234]

4. This will be tossed out immediatly

Isn't it court precident that a non-citzen can't sure the US?

(and no, I don't agree with that precident)

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. Perhaps the "precedent" that you are referring to

is about Ashcroft trying to make it illegal for foreigners to seek adjudication within the US court sustem under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ACTA). The former Gitmo prisoner has a right to file suit against the US government:Read here for a fairly recent update on Ashcroft and the ATCA:

http://www.talkleft.com/archives/003169.html

Read here re: ACTA:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/torts3y/readings/update-a-02.html

[thebigidea]

5. pre-emptive post

"I can't believe any one would have sympathy for terrorists instead of the victim's families. This is why DU is not in the mainstream."

Of course, cases like this never seem to sway those that think the above. Or even draw a comment.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. What has become of my Country? Everytime I read about what is

going on at Gitmo, I am saddened to a great degree.

We have become no better than the things/people we purport to be our enemies.