Celikgogus v. Rumsfeld

Synopsis

Celikgogus v. Rumsfeld is a case seeking compensatory damages and declaratory relief for five former Guantánamo detainees.

Status

The amended case was filed on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Description

Celikgogus v. Rumsfeld was 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. It charges 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 suit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The plaintiffs 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 43-year-old 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 39-year-old Turkish citizen and father of three. Ibrahim Sen is a 26-year-old Turkish citizen. Both Sen and Celikgogus were released to Turkey on November 22, 2003, after two years in U.S. custody. Nuri Mert is a 35-year-old Turkish citizen and father of four; he was released to Turkey on April 1, 2004, after being detained for more than 2 years by the U.S.

Timeline

The original case was filed on November 21, 2006 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 original complaint was amended to include three new plaintiffs – Nuri Mert, Zakirjan Hasam, and Abu Mujammad – and also new defendants.

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