Ex-Gitmo detainee sues US over torture allegations

Jurist

A former Guantánamo Bay detainee filed a lawsuit Oct. 6 against the US military alleging that he was subjected to torture. Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al-Ginco, a Syrian national who prefers the surname Janko, filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia—the same court that ordered his release last year—claiming that US military officials repeatedly tortured him during his nearly seven-and-a-half years at Gitmo. The suit names 26 current or former members of the military who are allegedly responsible for the tortuous acts, such as urinating on Janko, slapping him, threatening him with loss of fingernails, sleep deprivation, extreme cold and stress positions. Janko was released in June 2009 when Judge Richard Leon found that he could no longer be classified as an “enemy combatant” and that the government’s argument against him defied common sense. Prior to being detained by the US military, Janko was imprisoned and tortured by al-Qaeda for 18 months over suspicions that he was an American spy.

Several other Guantánamo detainees have also filed lawsuits alleging torture. In July, the UK High court allowed a lawsuit filed by former Guantánamo Bay detainees alleging that the UK government was complicit in their torture to proceed. In April, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Adel Hassan Hamad filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington against the US government and more than a dozen government officials, claiming he was tortured.

From Jurist, Oct. 7. Used with permission.

  1. Judge dismisses suit by former Gitmo detainee
    A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 22 dismissed a lawsuit by a former Guantánamo Bay detainee alleging that he was subjected to torture. Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al-Ginco, a Syrian national who prefers the surname Janko, filed the lawsuit in October 2010, claiming that US military officials repeatedly tortured him during his nearly seven-and-a-half years at Guantánamo. The suit named 26 current or former members of the military who were allegedly responsible for the tortuous acts, such as urinating on Janko, slapping him, threatening him with loss of fingernails, sleep deprivation, extreme cold and stress positions. Judge Richard Leon dismissed the suit, concluding:

    War, by its very nature, victimizes many of those caught in its wake. Innocent civilians are invariably killed, and sometimes even mistakenly imprisoned. Our legal system was never designed to provide a remedy in our Courts for these inevitable tragedies, especially in a conflict like this where terrorists cunningly morph into their surroundings. Indeed, the Congress has specifically barred the Judicial Branch from reviewing “any aspect of the detention … treatment … or conditions of confinement of an alien who is or was detained by the United States and has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.” For this Court to circumvent such a clear directive from our Legislative Branch would be an utter disregard of the limitations of our judicial power.

    From Jurist, Dec. 22