Allaithi v. Rumsfeld Historic Case

At a Glance

Date Filed: 

November 21, 2006

Current Status 

On October 5, 2015, the Supreme Court denied our petition for certiorari to review a decision by a court of appeals, which had ruled that the torture and religious humiliation our clients endured—even after being cleared for release by the military—were incidental to the “need to maintain an orderly detention environment” and “appear[ed] to be standard for all” U.S. military detainees in Guantanamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Co-Counsel 

Orrick LLP (San Francisco office)

Client(s) 

Yuksel Celikgogus, Ibrahim Sen, Nuri Mert, Zakirjan Hasam, Abu Muhammad, Sami AlLaithi

Case Description 

The Center for Constitutional Rights brought the cases of Celikgogus and Allaithi on behalf of men who had been detained at Guantanamo 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 alleged that government officials 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. The suits were filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

None of the plaintiffs in Celikgogus or Allaithi has ever been a member of any terrorist group, and all were released from Guantánamo without being charged with any crime—yet all six were variously subjected to torture and other abuses including being held in solitary confinement (against the advice of military psychologists), sleep deprivation, being prevented from praying, forcible shaving, and being medicated against their will.

Three of the plaintiffs were subjected to this torture and abuse even after being found by military Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) panels not to be “enemy combatants.”  One of these plaintiffs, university English professor Sami Abdulaziz Allaithi, could walk when he was brought to Guantánamo, but left in a wheelchair. Now living with family in Egypt, he remains immobilized and in great pain. Another, 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, then sent to Albania – against his will – as a refugee in 2006. The third, Zakirjan Hasam, an Uzbek refugee who fled religious persecution in Uzbekistan, was transferred to U.S. officials for custody in 2002 by Afghanis, who he believes received a bounty from the U.S. government. When he was finally sent to Albania as a refugee, 23 months after the military panel’s ruling, he was sent shackled and bound to his seat. He continues to live in poverty there.

The other three plaintiffs are Turkish nationals who were released before the military even provided CSRT panels to detainees.  

In dismissing the men's’ claims, the D.C. Circuit stated that the torture and religious humiliation these men endured – even after being cleared for release by the military – were incidental to the “need to maintain an orderly detention environment,” “appear[ed] to be standard for all” U.S. military detainees in Guantánamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and “was certainly foreseeable [by the government] because maintaining peace, security, and safety at a place like Guantánamo Bay is a stern and difficult business.” On October 5, 2015, the Supreme Court denied our petition for certiorari to review this ruling, ending the case.

Case Timeline

October 5, 2015

Supreme Court denies petition for certiorari

October 5, 2015

Supreme Court denies petition for certiorari

August 11, 2015
Reply brief in support of certiorari filed
August 11, 2015
Reply brief in support of certiorari filed
Reply brief in support of certiorari filed
July 24, 2015
Government files brief in opposition to certiorari
July 24, 2015
Government files brief in opposition to certiorari
April 17, 2015

CCR files petition for certiorari with U.S. Supreme Court

April 17, 2015

CCR files petition for certiorari with U.S. Supreme Court

November 18, 2014

D.C. Circuit denies en banc petition, without dissent

November 18, 2014

D.C. Circuit denies en banc petition, without dissent

October 20, 2014

Government opposes petition for rehearing en banc

 

October 20, 2014

Government opposes petition for rehearing en banc

 

August 25, 2014

Plaintiffs petition for rehearing en banc

August 25, 2014

Plaintiffs petition for rehearing en banc

June 10, 2014

Appellate court affirms district court dismissal

June 10, 2014

Appellate court affirms district court dismissal

February 21, 2014

Case argued

December 18, 2013

Plaintiffs file appellate reply brief

December 18, 2013

Plaintiffs file appellate reply brief

November 13, 2013

Government files appellate brief

 

November 13, 2013

Government files appellate brief

 

August 22, 2013

Plaintiffs appeal to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

August 22, 2013

Plaintiffs appeal to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

May 9, 2013

Cases consolidated for appeal

May 9, 2013

Cases consolidated for appeal

February 1, 2013

Both cases dismissed

February 1, 2013

Both cases dismissed

November 18, 2011

Judge Kennedy resigns; cases ultimately transferred to Chief Judge Lamberth

November 18, 2011

Judge Kennedy resigns; cases ultimately transferred to Chief Judge Lamberth

May 21, 2010

Government replies in support of motions to dismiss

May 21, 2010

Government replies in support of motions to dismiss

April 19, 2010

Plaintiffs in both cases oppose government motions to dismiss

April 19, 2010

Plaintiffs in both cases oppose government motions to dismiss

February 19, 2010

Government files motions to dismiss both cases

February 19, 2010

Government files motions to dismiss both cases

The government moves to dismiss in light of the D.C. Circuit decision in Rasul v. Myers, 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.

September 30, 2009

Allaithi complaint filed

September 30, 2009

Allaithi complaint filed

April 1, 2008

CCR files a second amended complaint in Celikgogus

April 1, 2008

CCR files a second amended complaint in Celikgogus

March 21, 2007

Complaint amended to include three new plaintiffs and new defendants

March 21, 2007

Complaint amended to include three new plaintiffs and new defendants

November 21, 2006

Celikgogus complaint filed

November 21, 2006

Celikgogus complaint filed