High-Level Officials Must Be Held Accountable for Discriminatory
Round-Ups and Abuse, Say CCR Attorneys
New York, NY – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights appealed the decision of a federal court judge to dismiss a lawsuit against high-level Bush administration officials for their role in the post-9/11 immigration sweeps, detention and racial and religious profiling of Muslim, Arab and South Asian men. The judge allowed the claims against the wardens and prison officials at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, to go forward but dismissed the claims against the high-level officials alleged to have ordered the abuse at issue in the case, Turkmen v. Ashcroft.
Said CCR Senior Attorney Rachel Meeropol, “Time and again the victims of post 9/11 government abuse have found the courtroom doors shut to them. It is critical that prison officials be held accountable for their egregious behavior, but we must also ensure that high-level officials do not get a free pass to discriminate and order abuse.”
The Turkmen plaintiffs and other 9/11 detainees were placed in solitary confinement for months on end, even though they were only charged with civil immigration violations like overstaying a visa or working without authorization. Though the government had no reason beyond their race and religion to consider them dangerous, they were detained as “suspected terrorists” until cleared of any connection to terrorism by the FBI, and then deported. Among other documented abuses in detention, many of the 9/11 detainees had their faces smashed into a wall where guards had pinned a t-shirt with a picture of an American flag and the words, “These colors don’t run.” The men were slammed against the t-shirt upon their entrance to MDC and told “welcome to America.” The t-shirt was smeared with blood, yet it stayed up on the wall at MDC for months.
Said plaintiff Benamar Benatta, “It has been a long struggle for justice. I’ve suffered irreversible health damages and truly desire an end to this ongoing and draining process. Despite it all, I’ve maintained my faith in the justice system and can only hope that my lengthy struggle will result in exposing the truth, greater government accountability, and legal and political changes that will ensure that no one will ever have to endure the same treatment that I experienced at the hands of U.S. authorities during that awful time.”
The suit, originally filed in April 2002, names as defendants then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, former INS Commissioner James Ziglar, and officials at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where the plaintiffs were held. The MDC Defendants have also appealed. They are seeking review of the District Court’s denial of their motion to dismiss the claims based on qualified immunity. The two appeals will likely be consolidated and heard together some time in the fall.
To learn more about the case, visit the Turkmen v. Ashcroft case page.
The Turkmen plaintiffs are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, cooperating attorney Michael Winger, and Covington & Burling, LLP.
Briefly, we wanted to update you on where Truthout stands this month.
To be brutally honest, Truthout is behind on our fundraising goals for the year. There are a lot of reasons why. We’re dealing with broad trends in our industry, trends that have led publications like Vice, BuzzFeed, and National Geographic to make painful cuts. Everyone is feeling the squeeze of inflation. And despite its lasting importance, news readership is declining.
To ensure we stay out of the red by the end of the year, we have a long way to go. Our future is threatened.
We’ve stayed online over two decades thanks to the support of our readers. Because you believe in the power of our work, share our transformative stories, and give to keep us going strong, we know we can make it through this tough moment.
At this moment, we have 24 hours left in our important fundraising campaign, and we still must raise $19,000. Please consider making a donation today.