press@ccrjustice.org
May 1, 2014, New York – Today, attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) urged a federal court of appeals to allow a case to go forward against high-level Bush administration officials alleged to have ordered the post-9/11 immigration sweeps, detention, and racial and religious profiling of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men.
The plaintiffs in Turkmen v. Ashcroft
and other prisoners were swept up after the September 11 attacks on the
pretext of minor immigration infractions and detained at the
Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn as “suspected
terrorists” until cleared of any connection to terrorism by the FBI.
Attorneys say the government had no reason except the men’s race and
religion to suspect the plaintiffs of any ties to terrorism.
In January 2013, the district court dismissed the
claims against the high-level Bush officials but allowed the claims
against MDC wardens and prison officials to proceed.
“These men were presumed guilty until proven innocent.
The only thing they were ‘guilty’ of was being Muslim,” said CCR Senior
Staff Attorney Rachel Meeropol. “It’s important not only to hold those
who facilitated and carried out these abuses accountable, but to ensure
that those who ordered and authorized the abuse are not placed above the
law.”
Among other documented abuses, the Turkmen
plaintiffs and other detainees were placed in solitary confinement for
months. Upon entering MDC, many of the men 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,” and were told, “Welcome to
America.” The bloodied t-shirt hung on the wall at MDC for months.
“I never expected that being a Muslim from North
Africa is reason enough to put me in jail for years, where I was
subjected to degrading treatments that I wouldn’t wish on anybody,” said
plaintiff Benamar Benatta. “There is no denying that officials at the
Brooklyn prison were directly responsible for my torture and ill
treatment, including beating and sleep deprivation, yet they were not
the ones responsible for enacting those prejudiced policies. If the
people behind the policies are not held accountable it will be an
encouragement and will open the door for further violations in the
future.”
Turkmen was filed in April 2002 against
then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller,
former INS Commissioner James Ziglar, and officials at MDC. The MDC
defendants have also appealed the lower court’s decision to allow the
case against them to move forward. Both appeals were argued today.
Several plaintiffs in the suit settled their claims against the United States in 2010 for $1.26 million.
Learn more about the case on CCR’s Turkmen v. Ashcroft case page.
Michael Winger and Covington & Burling LLP are co-counsel on the case.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
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