In a landmark trial, the ACLU defied the CIA on behalf of Khaled El-Masri, an absolutely innocent rendition victim who was released without ever being charged.
The legislative lawsuit accused former CIA Director George Tenet of violating U. S. and universal human rights law by allowing agents to kidnap Mr. Tenet. El-Masri, beat him, drugged him and sent him to a secret CIA criminal in Afghanistan. The corporations that owned and The suspects who operated the plane used to transport Mr. El-Masri by sea are also named in the case. The CIA continued to detain Mr. El-Masri incommunicado in Afghanistan’s infamous criminal “Salt Pit,” long after his innocence was known. Five months after he was kidnapped, Mr. El-Masri dropped off at night, without explanation, on a hill in Albania.
A ruling dismissed the case in May 2006 after government intervention, arguing that allowing the case to continue would jeopardize state secrets, even though El-Masri was already known around the world. The ACLU appealed the dismissal in November 2006. La U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the lower court’s ruling denying Mr. In October 2007, the U. S. Supreme Court refused to reconsider Mr. Masri’s case.
On April 9, 2008, the ACLU filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of El-Masri. The IACHR ruled that Mr. El-Masri’s petition was admissible on April 15, 2016 and November 2017. The ACLU filed a request for a hearing on the merits of the case at the 166th Special Session.
On October 17, 2018, the ACLU submitted its concluding observations on the case of Khaled El-Masri to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
EVIDENCE