American filmmaker sues Rumsfeld for two month detainment by US military.

[bored]

American filmmaker sues Rumsfeld over detention in Iraq
Cyrus Kar says he was hooded, threatened by U.S. soldiers

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- An aspiring Iranian-American filmmaker who spent nearly two months in a prison in Iraq without being charged has sued Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other military officials, calling the government's detention policies unconstitutional.

Cyrus Kar, 45, of Los Angeles seeks unspecified damages and sweeping changes in the government's detention policies overseas.

The suit was filed this week in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union of California. It is the first civil case challenging detention policies in Iraq, said Mark Rosenbaum, the organization's legal director.

A phone message left for a Pentagon spokesman was not immediately returned Saturday.

When Kar was released, military officials said that he had been properly detained as "an imperative security threat" and that the matter had been handled and resolved appropriately.

"This case highlights the effectiveness of our detainee review process," spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston said following Kar's release.

Kar was taken into custody in May 2005 after he visited Iraq to make a documentary film about Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who wrote the world's first human rights charter. Potential bomb parts were found in a taxi in which Kar was riding.

He was released July 10 after his family sued, accusing the federal government of violating his civil rights and holding him after the FBI cleared him of suspicion. He is a former U.S. Navy SEAL, according to news reports.

The new lawsuit said his 55-day detention violated not only his civil rights, but also the Geneva Convention and the law of nations.

"Human rights monitors note that the vast majority of the over 15,000 detainees in U.S. military custody in Iraq have never been charged, tried, provided counsel, or allowed to challenge their detention in court, and over one-fifth of them have been detained for over a year in this manner," the suit states.

Kar said that while he was imprisoned he was at various times hooded and threatened, taunted and insulted by U.S. soldiers. One soldier slammed Kar's head into a concrete wall, the suit said.

What happened to him in Iraq was "a life-altering experience," Kar told the Los Angeles Times.

In addition to Rumsfeld, the defendants include Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commanding general of the multinational forces in Iraq, and Maj. Gen. William H. Brandenburg, who was in charge of detainee operations in Iraq at the time of Kar's detention.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Thoughts? Blanket generalizations about fascistic conservatives/terrorist-lover liberals?

 

[War Lord]

I'm just wondering why he was carrying bomb parts.

It sounds like that he did something so he could be imprisoned so he could end up making a statement.

 

[dpm07]

Some people in the world and the US see Donald Rumsfield as an American hero for the world. One has to admire the filmmaker's attempt, but if he thinks he can sue Rumsfield and win, he needs a reality check.

Besides that, people who are lower level usually don't sue the government. It's not unprecedented, but not likely because of the nature of times we live in. People like Rumsfield do what they need to to protect American interests. To sue them at this time and win, is highly unlikely. One might just as well as sue Bush for needlessly screwing up the economy and needlessly sending us to a war in Iraq when it was Al-Queida in Afghanistan that bombed the Towers buildings. One can try, but the success factor is very slim, so why put ones self through that grief. The best thing that could happen is for this guy to walk away and suck it up, and remember that the times dictate the deeds.

 

[Darkdd]

I'm just wondering why he was carrying parts.

It sounds like that he did something so he could be imprisoned so he could end up making a statement.

It said the taxi he was in had parts.The taxi driver was probably detained too.

 

[Mentok]

Yeah, it says there were 'potential' bomb parts inside the taxi.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[War Lord]

It said the taxi he was in had parts.The taxi driver was probably detained too.

The US military could not have known immediately that this guy had nothing to do with the insurgency under such conditions.

I wouldn't expect the police to necessarily believe me when I claim innocence after they find a kilo of coke in my car.

 

[Darkdd]

^That is true.

 

[kainedamo]

But it wasn't his car.

 

[roach]

But it wasn't his car.

if I am stopped in a taxi with illegal stuff in it I will be detained until I am proven to not have any attachments to the illegal stuff

 

[kainedamo]

You have to be charged with something for them to keep you there for two months.

 

[roach]

You have to be charged with something for them to keep you there for two months.

really...we are talking about Military and not police. Did we charge every German we captured in WW2.
Also as an ex member of the military he should have a form of military ID on him

 

[kainedamo]

I don't know really, I wouldn't know much about it. I'd assume that all prisoners of war have to be charged and have a trial. Except for the ones in Guatanamo (spelling?).

 

[roach]

I don't know really, I wouldn't know much about it. I'd assume that all prisoners of war have to be charged and have a trial. Except for the ones in Guatanamo (spelling?).

not really....enemy combatants can be detained to keep them from going back and rejoining the enemy...besides what could you charge them with????

 

[kainedamo]

Being enemy combatants?? That's why they call them "prisoners of war".

 

[bored]

*bump*

Anyone?

 

[Otis Driftwood]

I'd like to know what these "potential parts" were. They could be very specific parts or mundane, everyday products that were simply used to capture someone who might have been in the cab.

 

[bored]

Indeed. You could arrest a Wal-Mart employee for having 'potential bomb parts' around them.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

perhaps, it was indeed as Jonty so hypocritically justifies a "statement"and a Damned effective one. nice to see that the U.S. values freedom so much.

oops, they meant American freedom.

I get it.

 

[War Lord]

But it wasn't his car.

He could have paid the taxi driver a few hundred dollars to transport the stuff.

I'm not saying he did that, but from the military's point of view that's a possible scenario.

 

[bored]

But one worth imprisoning him in Gitmo?

 

[War Lord]

But one worth imprisoning him in Gitmo?

Would you rather had him set free to kill soldiers?

 

[Daisy]

really...we are talking about Military and not police. Did we charge every German we captured in WW2.
Also as an ex member of the military he should have a form of military ID on him

Actually, since he wasn't going on in any sort of military capacity, and considering where he was going, he probably didn't want to associate himself with the American military.

 

[jaguarr]

I can guarantee one thing about Gitmo. If those 15,000 people that are being held without charge or trial for months or even years didn't have any problems with the U.S. prior to their arrest and incarceration, they do now. I wonder how many of them will take up terrorism as a career upon their release just becaus of what's been done to them. This situation is a complete mess and has been handled VERY poorly by the U.S. Government, and Kar's case in point is a perfect illustration of that. He was treated unfairly, abused and had his rights as as U.S. citizen violated by a government that clearly doesn't value human rights, even of their own citizens. I hope he wins his case, to be honest. Our government has demonstrated that they need some checks and balances set for them to let them know when they've overstepped their bounds.

jag

 

[War Lord]

I can guarantee one thing about Gitmo. If those 15,000 people that are being held without charge or trial for months or even years didn't have any problems with the U.S. prior to their arrest and incarceration, they do now. I wonder how many of them will take up terrorism as a career upon their release just becaus of what's been done to them. This situation is a complete mess and has been handled VERY poorly by the U.S. Government, and Kar's case in point is a perfect illustration of that. He was treated unfairly, abused and had his rights as as U.S. citizen violated by a government that clearly doesn't value human rights, even of their own citizens. I hope he wins his case, to be honest. Our government has demonstrated that they need some checks and balances set for them to let them know when they've overstepped their bounds.

jag

The fact that they are in Gitmo indicates they had problems with the US in the first place.

 

[Addendum]

The fact that they are in Gitmo indicates they had problems with the US in the first place.

Because that's what the government says, and why should we NOT distrust what they say? They're always right