老澳门开奖结果

老澳门开奖结果 Suit Sought to Hold U.S. Government Officials Accountable for Torture of American Citizen Jos茅 Padilla

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WASHINGTON 鈥� The U.S. Supreme Court today announced that it would not review the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 lawsuit against current and former government officials for their roles in the unlawful detention and torture of U.S. citizen Jos茅 Padilla. In January, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court鈥檚 ruling that an American citizen designated an 鈥渆nemy combatant鈥� by the executive branch could not sue to vindicate his constitutional rights based on a claim that he was tortured at the direction of senior government officials.

鈥淭he Supreme Court鈥檚 refusal to consider Jose Padilla鈥檚 case leaves in place a blank check for government officials to commit any abuse in the name of national security, even the brutal torture of an American citizen in an American prison,鈥� said Ben Wizner, the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 lead counsel on the case. 鈥淭o date, not a single victim of the Bush administration鈥檚 torture regime has received his day in court. It is precisely the role of the courts to ensure that allegations of grave misconduct by executive Branch officials receive fair adjudication. That vital role does not evaporate simply because those officials insist that their actions are too sensitive for judicial review.鈥�

Padilla was taken from a civilian jail in New York in 2002 by military agents, declared an 鈥渆nemy combatant鈥� and secretly transported to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C. He was imprisoned without charge for nearly four years, subjected to extreme abuse and was unable to communicate with his lawyers or family for two years. The illegal treatment included forcing Padilla into stress positions for hours on end, punching him, depriving him of sleep and threatening him with further torture and death.

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