Celikgogus v. Rumsfeld & Allaithi v. Rumsfeld

Synopsis

Celikgogus v. Rumsfeld, et al. and Allaithi v. Rumsfeld, et al. are civil cases seeking compensatory damages and declaratory relief for six former Guantánamo detainees.

Status

On February 19, 2010, the government filed motions to dismiss in both Celikgogus and Allaithi in light of the appellate decision in Rasul v. Rumsfeld, which was dismissed largely on "qualified immunity" grounds - that is, on the notion that courts had not clearly established that torture and religious abuse of Guantánamo detainees was prohibited at the time those abuses were being carried out. The court's ruling on the government's motions to dismiss is pending.

Description

Celikgogus and Allaithi were brought against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers, and dozens of others, including civilian and military personnel at Guantánamo. Both cases charge that the Pentagon chain of command authorized and condoned torture and other mistreatment in violation of the Alien Tort Statute, the Vienna Convention, the U.S. Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Federal Civil Rights Act. None of the former detainees has ever been a member of any terrorist group, and all were released from Guantánamo without being charged with any crime. The suits were filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The plaintiffs in Celikgogus include Yuksel Celikgogus and Ibrahim Sen, two Turkish citizens who were released from Guantánamo in 2004; Turkish citizen Nuri Mert; Uzbekistan citizen Zakirjan Hasam; and Algerian citizen Abu Muhammad. Hasam and Muhammad, both refugees sent by the U.S. against their will to Albania, were determined to be non-enemy combatants at their Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT's) in late 2004, yet were not released until two years later. Celikgogus and Sen were released without charge before the creation of the CSRT process.

Abu Muhammad is a medical doctor and Algerian refugee who was taken from his pregnant wife and five children in Pakistan in 2002, sent to Guantánamo for four years and released to Albania on November 16, 2006. Zakirjan Hasam, an Uzbek refugee who fled religious persecution in Uzbekistan, was transferred to the U.S. in 2002 by Afghanis, who he believes received a bounty from the U.S. government, and was also released on November 16, 2006, and transferred to Albania. Yuksel Celikgogus is a Turkish citizen and father of three. Ibrahim Sen is a Turkish citizen, now in his late 20s. Both Sen and Celikgogus were released to Turkey on November 22, 2003, after two years in U.S. custody. Nuri Mert is a Turkish citizen and father of four; he was released to Turkey on April 1, 2004, after being detained for more than two years by the U.S.

The plaintiff in Allaithi is Sami Abdulaziz Allaithi, an Egyptian who was working as a university English professor in Kabul, Afghanistan when the U.S. bombing campaign began. He was unlawfully detained first in Kandahar and then in Guantánamo. In 2004, Allaithi was determined to be a non-enemy combatant through the CSRT process, yet he was held for ten additional months before he was released and returned to Egypt on October 1, 2005. He is now physically disabled and psychologically traumatized due to abuse and torture he suffered in U.S. detention.

Timeline

On November 21, 2006, the original Celikgogus complaint was filed on behalf of Yuksel Celikgogus and Ibrahim Sen, two Turkish citizens who were both released from Guantánamo on November 22, 2003, and transferred to Albania.

On March 21, 2007, the complaint was amended to include three new plaintiffs – Nuri Mert, Zakirjan Hasam, and Abu Muhammad – and also new defendants.

On April 1, 2008, plaintiffs in Celikgogus filed a second amended complaint.

On September 30, 2009, the related case Allaithi was filed on behalf of Sami Abdulaziz Allaithi, an Egyptian university professor who was released from Guantánamo on October 1, 2005.

On February 19, 2010, the government filed motions to dismiss in both Celikgogus and Allaithi in light of the appellate decision in Rasul, which was dismissed largely on “qualified immunity” grounds - that is, on the notion that courts had not clearly established that torture and religious abuse of Guantánamo detainees was prohibited at the time those abuses were being carried out.

On April 19, 2010, plaintiffs in both cases filed memorandums in opposition to the government’s motion to dismiss.

On May 21, 2010, the government filed their reply in support of defendants’ motion to dismiss in both cases.