JURIST - Paper Chase: Detainee alleges abuse en route to Guantanamo

[JURIST] Benyam Mohammed [also Binyam Ahmad Muhammad], a 27-year-old Ethiopian man held at Guantanamo, claims he was tortured in Pakistan, Morocco, and Afghanistan before arriving in Cuba. While there is no independent verification for Mohammed's claims, it is not the first allegation of US-facilitated abuse in foreign countries [JURIST report] utilized in order to get around US laws against torture. Mohammed says he was not physically abused after arriving in Guantanamo. US officials have told Mohammed's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith [Wikipedia profile] that Mohammed was an associate of terror suspect Jose Padilla [Wikipedia profile], a claim Smith calls "total nonsense." He also demanded an explanation for scars on Mohammed's body, which Mohammed says were caused by the abuse [Guardian report]. Mohammed's allegations are generally similar to those made in January by now-released Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib, who said he had been transferred by the United States from Pakistan to Egypt, where he was subjected to torture by beating, electric shock, and near-drowning [JURIST report] before being sent on to Guantanamo Bay. The Washington Post has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...