A federal court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the CIA filed by a German citizen who says he was wrongfully imprisoned and abused by the CIA.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled that Khaled al-Masri 'deserves a remedy' but he cannot bring his case against the CIA to court because it poses a 'grave risk' of exposing government secrets and thereby compromising national security.
Judge Ellis ruled that al-Masri's 'private interests must give way to the national interest in preserving state secrets.'
Ellis did not that al-Masri 'has suffered injuries.' He was held by the CIA for five months in Afghanistan in what amounted to a case of mistaken identity. During that time, al-Masri says he was beaten, sodomized and repeatedly interrogated about his alleged ties to al-Qaeda.
Al-Masri had been seeking an apology from the CIA and monetary compensation for his injuries, pain and suffering.
The state secrets defense was argued by lawyer's at the State Department. The exception was created at the height of the Cold War in the 1950s. It was almost never used until after September 11 when the Bush administration began to rely on it in numerous legal briefs.
Ben Wizner, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is defending al-Masri was angered by the decision. 'Everyone knows that Mr. al-Masri was a mistaken victim of the rendition program. He is now a victim of the misuse of the state-secrets privilege.'
Al-Masri was arrested by police in Macedonia in December 2003. He has the same name as a different man suspected of links to terrorism. Al-Masri is a German citizen of Lebanese descent.
Judge Ellis wrote in his decision, 'all fair-minded people . . . must also agree that [al-Masri] has suffered injuries as a result of our country's mistake and deserves a remedy.' But that remedy will not come from the U.S. court system unless al-Masri wins his appeal.
