Gitmo plaintiffs lose lawsuit

" ... in an opinion released Friday Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington wrote that the religious freedom act does not apply to the Guantanamo detainees because they are not "persons" for the purposes of U.S law." --Court throws out Islam-based Gitmo claims, at The Swamp

A federal appeals court today tossed a lawsuit brought against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials by four released British prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, who alleged that they were tortured and denied the right to practice Islam.

The British detainees–Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal Al-Harith–spent more than two years in Guantánamo and were repatriated to the U.K. in 2004.

They brought claims under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law passed in the 1990s to prevent government interference with religious practices, arguing that officials at Guantanamo actively prevented worship of Islam by, among other things, tossing a copy of the Quran into a toilet.

They also say they were tortured, beaten and humiliated. They had sought $10 million in damages. A federal trial judge dismissed most of the claims saying U.S. officials couldn't be sued for actions taken in wartime, but the religious act claim and some other claims survived. (A story here in the Tribune took a closer look at the case.)

But in an opinion released Friday Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington wrote that the religious freedom act does not apply to the Guantanamo detainees because they are not "persons" for the purposes of U.S law.

The three-judge panel also held that the U.S. officials were immune from the torture claims because, as held by the trial court: “torture is a foreseeable consequence of the military’s detention of suspected enemy combatants.” In other words, the court held that the officials that allegedly engaged in torture did so as part of their assigned duties to interrogate.

And the panel found that, even if torture and religious abuse were illegal, defendants were immune under the Constitution because they could not have reasonably known that detainees at Guantánamo had any constitutional rights. (continue reading)

What wise judges!

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No politics this weekend for some bloggers, but that will be hard to do with the 24 hour media.

Comments

[Skunkfeathers]

I tend to agree: a judge who can walk, chew gum, and adjudicate instead of legislate or social engineer from the bench! Refreshing.

We need more such judges. Won't get 'em if Hillary gets in.