NYU Law School and the American Civil Liberties Union are pushing for the trial of five CIA rendition victims, suspected terrorists who have been taken to undisclosed locations for questioning or detention.
The U.S. government requested that the case be dismissed, saying that state secrets might be revealed in the process.
NYU Law's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice released a firsthand account of a survivor of disappearance and torture by the CIA last month, in order to raise awareness about the case and to oppose the claim that the case would reveal state secrets.
The account, which was released as a report titled "Surviving the Darkness," includes almost 60 pages of Yemeni citizen Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah's firsthand description of the 17 months he spent in the CIA's rendition program. He was first taken into custody in Jordan, where he was tortured before being transferred to Afghanistan and later to a CIA interrogation center.
"The account is unique because of its incredible detail, and its insight into the way the program is run," said Lama Fakih, a member of the International Human Rights Clinic at the law school.
The account is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the ACLU against Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing Company. The suit alleges that Jeppesen helped the CIA transport prisoners to secret detention facilities abroad where those in custody were "subjected to torture and other forms of cruel inhuman and degrading treatment," according to the ACLU's website.
Besides Bashmilah, the CHRGJ was also representing Iraqi Bisher al-Rawi when they added their case to the ACLU case against Jeppesen.
"We are hopeful that this will stop being used as an excuse to not be accountable," said Brenda Punsky, a member of the Inter-Residence Hall Council.
NYU Law professor and co-director of the CHRGJ Meg Satterthwaite said the case against Jeppesen aims to make it easier to bypass government use of the "state secrets" claim to shut down cases.
Satterthwaite said she believes there is good legal doctrine to back the case and that they have "significant hope to succeed."
Although the government has not increased its use of the "state secrets" claim to throw out a case, it used the claim differently, Satterthwaite said. It is now being used to shut down lawsuits early on in the case, instead of allowing judges to determine whether the case risks revealing state secrets.
Bashmilah's report and testimony is important because of the incredible amount of detail he gave. The lawsuit, if it is able to bypass the U.S. government's use of the "secrets" claim to block the case, will be significant in the information it seeks to present.
"On a personal level," Satterthwaite said, "I hope that this case helps to raise awareness about the CIA's rendition program." •
Catherine Manfre is deputy news editor. E-mail her at cmanfre@nyunews.com.
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