thedrifter
07-10-03, 12:30 PM
July 10, 2003
Former Gitmo detainee sues U.S. for damages
By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Freed after 10 months in an American prison on Guantanamo Bay, 51-year-old Pakistani Mohammed Sanghir is demanding $10.4 million in compensation and damages from the U.S. government, his lawyer says.
Sanghir left Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last November — the first Pakistani released from the prison currently holding about 600 inmates. He tells of solitary confinement and being caged, and claims he was served alcohol-laced drinks, forbidden by his religion, Islam.
His legal notice, served by Pakistan lawyer Mohammed Ikram Chaudhry in Rawalpindi, was seen Wednesday by The Associated Press.
His American captors flew him to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan and then to Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, after freeing him from Guantanamo.
“They said, ‘You are innocent,”’ Sanghir told The AP at the time of his release. “They didn’t say sorry. They just said, ‘You can go home.”’
Sanghir, who wore a green plastic wristband with his picture, name, age and prison number US9PK000143DP, said his U.S. captors promised him $2,000 in compensation when he got off the plane in Pakistan — but that he received only $100.
For two months, he tried to get the rest of his money, he said. In December, he threatened to go to court.
Chaudhry said he had mailed the legal notice to the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday and that it named the State Department, Defense Department and Justice Department.
The notice demands a reply within four weeks. If there’s no compensation, Chaudhry said a lawsuit would be filed in either a U.S. or Pakistani court or both.
Sanghir’s legal statement charges maltreatment by his Afghan captors and later by the Americans.
Sanghir was captured by warlord Rashid Dostum while trying to flee Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, after the U.S.-led coalition’s war on terror began in October 2001. He had been in Afghanistan since June, 2001, teaching Islam after being sent there by a nonpolitical organization of Islamic missionaries called Jamaat Tableeghi. The organization has branches worldwide.
While being held in northern Afghanistan, Sanghir said he was herded into overcrowded prisons and denied food. He said he watched while others were buried alive and that hundreds of prisoners died in U.S. bombardments of northern Afghanistan.
When U.S.-led forces gained control of southern Kandahar in Afghanistan, Sanghir and several others were transferred there.
Sanghir’s notice says he spent “18 days ... in Kandahar where Americans were in complete charge of the camp. They shaved the head, beard and mustaches of all the prisoners.”
It says he and others were not allowed to sleep or pray and were “kept in (an) inhuman environment.”
“Others were made to stand in the cold winter outside and asked questions about al-Qaida, Taliban and Osama bin Laden,” it said.
Sanghir was taken to Guantanamo Bay in shackles and held there for about 10 months, the notice said.
He said his cell on Guantanamo Bay was 6 feet by 6 feet and about 7 feet high. He called it a cage “normally available in zoos.”
The notice accused U.S. personnel in Guantanamo Bay of adding alcohol — forbidden by Islam — to prisoners’ drinks.
Sanghir said he was initially in solitary confinement and not allowed to pray, until a hunger strike by inmates led to a relaxation of the rules.
He said he faced relentless questioning, almost entirely about Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida network.
Sanghir says he was held for eight days and later for another 16 in a dark, tiny cell with cold air constantly “chilling the body of the inmate” — a punishment for not being able to help investigations.
Sanghir’s release proved he knew nothing about bin Laden or al-Qaida, the notice said.
It claims that for 10 months while in American custody at Guantanamo, Sanghir “suffered mental shock, financial loss, physical victimization, estrangement and religious victimization.”
He wants $10 million for mental agony and another $400,000 for debts incurred by his family while he was in jail and damage to his sawmill business, it said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Former Gitmo detainee sues U.S. for damages
By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Freed after 10 months in an American prison on Guantanamo Bay, 51-year-old Pakistani Mohammed Sanghir is demanding $10.4 million in compensation and damages from the U.S. government, his lawyer says.
Sanghir left Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last November — the first Pakistani released from the prison currently holding about 600 inmates. He tells of solitary confinement and being caged, and claims he was served alcohol-laced drinks, forbidden by his religion, Islam.
His legal notice, served by Pakistan lawyer Mohammed Ikram Chaudhry in Rawalpindi, was seen Wednesday by The Associated Press.
His American captors flew him to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan and then to Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, after freeing him from Guantanamo.
“They said, ‘You are innocent,”’ Sanghir told The AP at the time of his release. “They didn’t say sorry. They just said, ‘You can go home.”’
Sanghir, who wore a green plastic wristband with his picture, name, age and prison number US9PK000143DP, said his U.S. captors promised him $2,000 in compensation when he got off the plane in Pakistan — but that he received only $100.
For two months, he tried to get the rest of his money, he said. In December, he threatened to go to court.
Chaudhry said he had mailed the legal notice to the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday and that it named the State Department, Defense Department and Justice Department.
The notice demands a reply within four weeks. If there’s no compensation, Chaudhry said a lawsuit would be filed in either a U.S. or Pakistani court or both.
Sanghir’s legal statement charges maltreatment by his Afghan captors and later by the Americans.
Sanghir was captured by warlord Rashid Dostum while trying to flee Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, after the U.S.-led coalition’s war on terror began in October 2001. He had been in Afghanistan since June, 2001, teaching Islam after being sent there by a nonpolitical organization of Islamic missionaries called Jamaat Tableeghi. The organization has branches worldwide.
While being held in northern Afghanistan, Sanghir said he was herded into overcrowded prisons and denied food. He said he watched while others were buried alive and that hundreds of prisoners died in U.S. bombardments of northern Afghanistan.
When U.S.-led forces gained control of southern Kandahar in Afghanistan, Sanghir and several others were transferred there.
Sanghir’s notice says he spent “18 days ... in Kandahar where Americans were in complete charge of the camp. They shaved the head, beard and mustaches of all the prisoners.”
It says he and others were not allowed to sleep or pray and were “kept in (an) inhuman environment.”
“Others were made to stand in the cold winter outside and asked questions about al-Qaida, Taliban and Osama bin Laden,” it said.
Sanghir was taken to Guantanamo Bay in shackles and held there for about 10 months, the notice said.
He said his cell on Guantanamo Bay was 6 feet by 6 feet and about 7 feet high. He called it a cage “normally available in zoos.”
The notice accused U.S. personnel in Guantanamo Bay of adding alcohol — forbidden by Islam — to prisoners’ drinks.
Sanghir said he was initially in solitary confinement and not allowed to pray, until a hunger strike by inmates led to a relaxation of the rules.
He said he faced relentless questioning, almost entirely about Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida network.
Sanghir says he was held for eight days and later for another 16 in a dark, tiny cell with cold air constantly “chilling the body of the inmate” — a punishment for not being able to help investigations.
Sanghir’s release proved he knew nothing about bin Laden or al-Qaida, the notice said.
It claims that for 10 months while in American custody at Guantanamo, Sanghir “suffered mental shock, financial loss, physical victimization, estrangement and religious victimization.”
He wants $10 million for mental agony and another $400,000 for debts incurred by his family while he was in jail and damage to his sawmill business, it said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: