Guantanamo Claims Before EU Court of Human Rights
National News
Six Guantanamo Bay prisoners, whose case was heard by the USSupreme Court in December, filed claims in the European Court of HumanRights in Strasbourg against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnianauthorities failed for many years to take any steps to negotiate andsecure the men’s release from Guantanamo. The claims address thetorture and other inhumane and degrading treatment the men havesuffered during the six years since they were illegally delivered byBosnia to US forces and taken to Guantanamo.
Thefilings describe in chilling detail the indignities, injuries, tortureand terror inflicted by US military personnel on the six men in thecourse of their imprisonment at Guantanamo. Accompanying medicalopinions describe the resulting destruction of their physical andmental health. Beginning with a 30 hour flight on which he wasshackled, and blindfolded and through the ensuing years when he hasbeen subjected to extended periods of sleep deprivation, solitaryconfinement, assault during interrogation and threats of rape, Mr.Boumediene, like the 5 others, has suffered life shattering physicaland mental injuries.
Mr. Ait Idir, who was taken from hispregnant wife in violation of a Bosnian court order to free him,detailed multiple beatings by rogue guards, extended periods ofisolation from other prisoners and multiple occasions when he wasopenly denied needed medical treatment. In one especially gruesomeattack, Mr. Ait Idir describes how, while his hands and feet were tied,rogue guards stuffed a flowing hose into his mouth, repeatedly slammedhis head and torso into steel and concrete surfaces, lowered his faceand head into a toilet and inflicted blows of such force that his headand face were paralyzed for months.
Related listings
-
High court rejects anti-Clinton movie case
National News 03/25/2008WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court has rejected aconservative group's legal fight to air commercials promoting a moviecritical of Sen. Hillary Clinton. The Supreme Court rejected an appeal in a case involving ads for a movie critical of Sen. Hillary Cli...
-
Supreme Court overrules Bush, OKs Texas execution
National News 03/25/2008WASHINGTON-- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday thatTexas can execute a Mexican murderer being held on its death row. Thecase pitted President Bush against his home state in a dispute overfederal authority, local sovereignty and foreign treaties. The ca...
-
Use of MySpace May Violate Court Order
National News 03/24/2008In one of the first rulings of its kind, a Staten Island judge has said that a teenage girl could be charged with violating a restraining order by using MySpace.com to reach out to people she was told not to contact. The girl, Melisa Fernino, 16, of ...
Texas Adopts Statewide Texting-While-Driving Ban
Effective September 1, 2017, Texas will become the 47th state to pass a statewide ban on texting while driving. Governor Abbott’s signing of House Bill 62 is an effort to unify Texas under a uniform ban and remedy the “patchwork quilt of regulations that dictate driving practices in Texas.”
The bill specifically prohibits drivers from reading, writing, or sending an electronic message on a device unless the vehicle is stopped. That includes texting and emailing. It does not, however, prohibit dialing a number to call someone, talking on the phone using a hands-free device, or using the phone’s GPS system.
Violations would be punishable by a fine ranging from $25 to $99, to be set by each municipality. Although penalties could rise to as much as $200 for repeat offenders.
Studies have found that a driver’s reaction time is half as much when a driver is distracted by sending or reading a text message. According to state officials, in 2015 more than 105,000 traffic accidents in Texas involved distracted driving, leading to at least 476 fatalities.