Originally published January 6 2006
ACLU files suit against former CIA director for treatment of foreign national
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
George Tenet, former director of the CIA, is being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for his treatment of a foreign national, who was abducted and then interrogated in a secret overseas prison.
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the first ever lawsuit against former CIA director George Tenet challenging the CIA's abduction of a foreign national for detention and interrogation in a secret overseas prison.
"Kidnapping a foreign national for the purpose of detaining and interrogating him outside the law is contrary to American values," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU.
"Our government has acted as if it is above the law.
We go to court today to reaffirm that the rule of law is central to our identity as a nation."
The lawsuit charges that George Tenet and other CIA officials violated U.S. and universal human rights laws when they authorized agents to kidnap El-Masri, and that his unlawful abduction and treatment were the direct result of an illegal CIA policy known as "extraordinary rendition."
The lawsuit also charges that the three corporations that owned and operated the airplane used to transport El-Masri to detention in Afghanistan are legally responsible for assisting in the violation of his civil and human rights.
These corporations supplied the aircraft and provided the personnel used in the illicit transportation of El-Masri, knowing that the transfer was illegal, according to the ACLU.
After several months of confinement in squalid conditions, he was abandoned on a hill in Albania with no explanation, never having been charged with a crime.
"Throughout my time in the prison, I asked to be brought before a court but was refused.
El-Masri had planned to be present at the press conference announcing the filing of this lawsuit, and to visit Capitol Hill to share his account with congressional aides.
However, when his plane landed at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta on Saturday night, he was denied entry to the United States by officials of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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