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| Terror Networks |
| U.S. Sued Over Two Guantanamo Detainees |
| 2004-07-13 |
| Lawyers for two Algerian terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said Tuesday they filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. government's authority to hold the men and saying they were wrongly handed over to American forces in Bosnia. The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, lead attorney Stephen Oleskey said from Boston. (Must be a Kerry delegate) Lakhdar Boumediene and Mohammed Nechla were doing relief work in Bosnia when they were detained in 2001, according to the suit, which demands the U.S. government justify their detentions or free them. "There is no lawful basis for their detention, and they should be released," said Steven Watt, a lawyer involved in several Guantanamo cases for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. The challenges follow similar lawsuits brought earlier this month on behalf of nine detainees at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba. The U.S. military maintains the nearly 600 detainees there are "enemy combatants" captured in the Afghanistan war and suspected of links to the fallen Taliban regime or al-Qaida. All the planes that brought detainees to Guantanamo originated in Afghanistan, said Army Lt. Col. Leon Sumpter, a spokesman. Lawyers for the Algerians, however, say they were not al-Qaida members, had no links to terrorism and were not involved in the Afghan conflict. The lawsuit says neither man "was in or near Afghanistan, or any other theater of war" when they were detained. The lawyers said the two Algerians were among six arrested by Bosnian police in October 2001. Bosnian authorities said the police, investigating possible al-Qaida cells, acted on a tip-off from U.S. authorities who suspected the six of threatening U.S. and British embassies. Their lawyers appealed to Bosnia's top human rights court, the Human Rights Chamber. On Jan. 17, 2002, a few hours before the men were to be released for lack of evidence, Bosnian police handed over the six to U.S. authorities, acting on a late-night request. Their families sued the Bosnian government at the Human Rights Chamber, which ruled the families should be paid compensation. In December, the Bosnian government said it would offer each family $19,000. The latest lawsuit was prepared with the consent of the Algerians' wives, Oleskey said. The men, like most at Guantanamo, have not been allowed contact with lawyers. So far, 15 detainees have been designated to stand trial by military tribunals, including three charged with offenses including war crimes conspiracy. In response to a June 28 Supreme Court ruling, U.S. officials said they began notifying detainees Monday that they may challenge their detentions in American courts, and challenge their status as "enemy combatants" before military panels. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |