U.S. Ordered Torture of Man Held in Detention in UAE, Lawsuit Alleges

In 2011

Reason 24/7

Yonas Fikre is suing the State Department and the FBI over a 2011 incident that sounds an awful lot like one of the "black sites" made infamous during the Bush Administration.

From the AP:

An American Muslim who says he was beaten with batons by prison interrogators while held in solitary confinement overseas for more than three months has sued the FBI and State Department, claiming the torture was done at their behest.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Oregon seeks $30 million and several injunctions against the U.S. government concerning its treatment of citizens overseas.

Yonas Fikre said he was held for 106 days in the United Arab Emirates after refusing to cooperate with Portland, Ore.,-based FBI agents in an interview in Sudan. The State Department has confirmed previously that Fikre was held in Abu Dhabi "on unspecified charges," but said he was visited by State Department officials and showed no signs of mistreatment.

Fikre was also put on a no-fly list so after being released in the UAE he could not re-enter the US. He went to Sweden instead.

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Comments

[John]

I have a bridge to sell anyone who thinks we stopped having CIA prisons and stopped torturing detainees, at least by proxy, when Obama took office. The question is does this fact come out before or after Obama leaves office?

[sarcasmic]

As soon as a Republican gets into the White House, the anti-war and anti-torture protesters will be back in force. It will be all Bush's fault, and Obama will be remembered as the president who got the Piece Prize.

[John]

It will be, Obama didn't know. The government was too big. That damned Petreus and other underlings betrayed that great man by doing this stuff behind his back.

[sarcasmic]

Bush lied! People died! Bush lied! People died!

[John]

And sometime in the 2030s, a historian will write the full truth about how Obama knew and condoned all of it only to see his book never get reviewed by any major publication. Old news you know.

[SweatingGin]

The question, to me, as usual, is "Did the pres sign the order with his fingers crossed, lying to the public about it, and instructing the implementors to just do it anyway?" (very bad) or "Did the pres actual order them closed, and the CIA/other implementors just ignored him?" (probably worse)

[John]

A bit of all of that. The President ordered them closed and then several of his underlings instructed the CIA to ignore the order. I doubt we will ever see a smoking gun memo or email, although we might. But there is no question in my mind nothing changed and that was exactly as Obama wanted it.

[Lord Humungus]

what kind of bridge is it?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Suspension of disbelief bridge.

[John]

It crosses the river of denial into Rainbow Puppy Island.

[Francisco d Anconia]

A bridge to nowhere.

[Bee Tagger]

Hooklyn and sinker bridge.

[Rrabbit]

It is known that the torture and black prison sites did not completely stop.
Sticking it to Obama himself will be more difficult - even for the wide spread torture under the Bush administration no politian was charged with a crime.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh, every American gets beat with batons at some point in his life. Sometimes it's for being a Muslim, sometimes for being homeless, sometimes for filming a badge. Let's not make a federal case out of it. Stop resisting and it will all be over when they tucker themselves out.

[John]

I would imagine most people in UAE prisons get beat with batons at some point.

[sarcasmic]

I would imagine most people in UAE prisons get beat with batons at some point.

ftfy

[Loki]

Stop resisting and it will all be over when they tucker themselves out.

Just lie back and think of England. They'll get bored with you and move on to someone else eventually.

[Suthenboy]

"....one of the "black sites" made infamous during the Bush Administration."

Already said, but I will say it again. Only an idiot would believe that pres shitweasel stopped the torture or the practice of renditioning.

People keep telling me it is a dead issue, but I still bet there was such a prison at the embassy or near it in Benghazi. The outrageous lies and bumbled coverup associated with it had to be motivated by more than just protecting the narrative that the WOT was won.

[Rrabbit]

It has been claimed that even in weeks before the attacks prisoners were interrogated by CIA "contractors" in Benghazi. There is, for example, this video from Paula Broadwell in Denver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W-67v7xRIg

[Sidd Finch]

Yonas Fikre is suing the State Department and the FBI over a 2011 incident that sounds an awful lot like one of the "black sites" made infamous during the Bush Administration.

It sounds nothing like a black site.