A German citizen who suffered torture after being kidnapped by the CIA is in the United States to appeal the dismissal of his lawsuit against the US government. Three years ago, Khaled el-Masri was seized along the Serbian-Macedonian border and then flown to Afghanistan where he was tortured inside a secret prison. He was released without charge after five months.
Masri described his ordeal Wednesday in Washington.
Khaled el-Masri:
“I was mortally afraid throughout the entire 5 months in prison in Afghanistan, the conditions I was confronted in in jail were not fit for human consumption. I went on hunger strike for 37 days and I was force fed thereafter, and then thereafter I was taken to Albania and in the middle of the night I was just dumped in a forest. To this day, I don’t know why they did this to me, I don’t know why they arrested me in the first place, I don’t know why they released me. I do not know.”
Masri’s suit was dismissed in May after a federal judge sided with the government’s argument that trying the case would jeopardize state secrets. Anthony Romero of the American Civil Liberties Union, criticized the government’s position.
ACLU Director Anthony Romero:
“It is untenable now for the Bush administration to hide behind its arguments in a court of law and insists that some of the most egregious violation of human rights have no remedy in an American court of law. If not before an American court of law can an individual who’s been wronged by the U.S. government seek justice than where?”
Masri has said he might drop the case if Tenet issues an apology.
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on Thursday, November 30th, 2006 at 8:51 pm and is filed under main, war, torture, the bush administration, human rights, terror.
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A German citizen who suffered torture after being kidnapped by the CIA is in the United States to appeal the dismissal of his lawsuit against the US government. Three years ago, Khaled el-Masri was seized along the Serbian-Macedonian border and then flown to Afghanistan where he was tortured inside a secret prison. He was released without charge after five months.
Masri described his ordeal Wednesday in Washington.
Khaled el-Masri:
“I was mortally afraid throughout the entire 5 months in prison in Afghanistan, the conditions I was confronted in in jail were not fit for human consumption. I went on hunger strike for 37 days and I was force fed thereafter, and then thereafter I was taken to Albania and in the middle of the night I was just dumped in a forest. To this day, I don’t know why they did this to me, I don’t know why they arrested me in the first place, I don’t know why they released me. I do not know.”
Masri’s suit was dismissed in May after a federal judge sided with the government’s argument that trying the case would jeopardize state secrets. Anthony Romero of the American Civil Liberties Union, criticized the government’s position.
ACLU Director Anthony Romero:
“It is untenable now for the Bush administration to hide behind its arguments in a court of law and insists that some of the most egregious violation of human rights have no remedy in an American court of law. If not before an American court of law can an individual who’s been wronged by the U.S. government seek justice than where?”
Masri has said he might drop the case if Tenet issues an apology.
democracynow
Stumble it!
This entry was posted
on Thursday, November 30th, 2006 at 8:51 pm and is filed under main, war, torture, the bush administration, human rights, terror.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.