U.S. lawsuit: Some Guantanamo detainees were not enemy combatants (AP)

U.S. lawsuit: Some Guantanamo detainees were not enemy combatants

The Associated Press
Published: March 22, 2007

WASHINGTON: Two former Guantanamo Bay detainees are suing former
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other military officials,
accusing them of mistreating and imprisoning them for years despite
knowing they weren't enemy combatants.

The men joined three other Guantanamo Bay detainees in a federal
lawsuit late Wednesday against Rumsfeld, former Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers and several officials at the military
prison.

Like other such lawsuits pending in the Washington federal court,
the complaint accuses the government of torturing detainees. Military
officials kicked and beat prisoners, suspended them from ceilings,
humiliated them and desecrated their Korans, the lawsuit contends.

What is unique about this case, however, is that two of the detainees
— identified as Abu Muhammad and Zakirjan Hasam — say they
underwent the military's Combatant Status Review Tribunals and were
ruled not to be enemy combatants. Despite that, they said, their
mistreatment continued for nearly two years before they were released.

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