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An alleged operative for Al Qaeda imprisoned for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant is saying he was tortured and forcibly medicated with "a sort of truth serum" while in a Navy brig. Jose Padilla, 35, was arrested in 2002 on suspicions that he was plotting a radioactive explosion, also known as a dirty bomb. He spent several years in a military jail in Charleston, S.C., without facing criminal charges. As legal wrangling over his fate continued, prosecutors in Miami charged him late last year with providing material support to a terrorist group and conspiring to murder, maim, and kidnap Americans abroad. Lawyers for Padilla, who was born in Brooklyn and converted to Islam while in prison for gang-related crimes, made the claims of torture in a motion filed last week with a federal court in Florida. "He was threatened with being cut with a knife and having alcohol poured on the wounds. He was also threatened with imminent execution," the chief federal defender in Miami, Michael Caruso, wrote. "Additionally, Padilla was given drugs against his will, believed to be some form of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or phencyclidine (PCP), to act as a sort of truth serum during his interrogations." Padilla's attorneys argued that the alleged torture constitutes "outrageous government conduct" that requires that the criminal case against Padilla be dismissed. Judge Marcia Cooke has already dropped one of the charges against Padilla, but he could still be sentenced to life in prison on the other charges. The trial has been delayed until next January, at the earliest. A top Al Qaeda leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, reportedly admitted during interrogations that he tasked Padilla with locating radioactive materials and scouting out locations for a dirty bomb. However, the pending indictment against Padilla makes no mention of such a plot. A spokesman for the Navy referred questions about Padilla's treatment to the Justice Department. Prosecutors handling the case did not respond to calls seeking comment for this article. © 2006 The New York Sun September 11, 2006 - Punch and Jurists (US)U.S. v. Padilla, No. 04-60001-CR-Cooke/Brown (S.D.Fla. Oct. 4, 2006) (Judge Cooke)An important element in the Government's ongoing attempts to justify the use of torture on terrorists captured on foreign battlefields has been the assurance that such terrorists are different and that, whatever tactics may be appropriate or necessary for foreigners, torture would never be permissible if used on U.S. citizens. Well, the "Motion to Dismiss for Outrageous Government" that was filed on October 4, 2006 in this case by Jose Padilla, an American citizen, raises serious doubts about the credibility of that contention. Quite aptly, the Argument section of this Motion turns to literature to emphasize how easy it is to expand the rules and to make sure that the end justifies the means. Quoting Friedrich Nietzsche, Padilla's counsel notes: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." -- Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil 89 (Walter Kaufmann trans., Vintage Books 1966) (1886). Recounting a pattern of abject abuse and revolting misconduct that is reminiscent of the worst of Soviet Russia's chain of gulags, Padilla's Motion is a disturbing indictment of the torture tactics used by a variety of Governmental agencies and actors in their attempt to manipulate, dehumanize and -- most of all -- to break Padilla so they could convict him of something in order to justify their methods. Padilla is an American citizen who was first arrested on May 8, 2002 on American soil on a material witness warrant. Then, almost as soon as counsel appeared on his behalf, he was scooted away in the middle of the night to the U.S. Navy Brig in Charleston, S.C., where he was then held incommunicado, without access to counsel or the courts, and without charges other than vague allegations that he was a terrorist. For example, in 2002, then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft trumpeted on TV that "we have captured a known terrorist" who was plotting to blow up a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States. (See, "Government's case against terror suspect faces obstacles," by Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, Aug. 28, 2006; and "Legal landmines emerge in 'dirty bomber' case," by Warren Richey, Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 31, 2006.) As problems with proving those claims developed, and as legal challenges to his detention mounted, the Administration switched tactics. It suddenly moved Padilla to a Federal prison in Miami; and, on November 17, 2005, it filed an indictment against his, essentially charging that Padilla broke the law by becoming an Al Qaeda recruit for a south Florida terror group and by filling out an application to become a holy warrior. Finally, with access to the courts and counsel, Padilla was in a position to fight back; and the instant Motion is the first salvo to defeat the latest of the Government's moving charges against him. In the instant Motion, Padilla charges that he was tortured for nearly the entire three years and eight months of his unlawful detention. The torture took myriad forms, each designed to cause pain, anguish, depression and, ultimately, the loss of will to live. The base ingredient in Padilla's torture was stark isolation for a substantial portion of his captivity. For nearly two years -- from June 9, 2002 until March 2, 2004, when the Department of Defense finally permitted Mr. Padilla to have some limited contact with his lawyers -- Padilla was in complete isolation. But even after he was permitted contact with counsel, his conditions of confinement remained essentially the same. The Motion continues, in part: "[Padilla's] tiny cell -- nine feet by seven feet -- had no view to the outside world. . . . In addition to his extreme isolation, Mr. Padilla was also viciously deprived of sleep. This sleep deprivation was achieved in a variety of ways. For a substantial period of his captivity, Mr. Padilla's cell contained only a steel bunk with no mattress. . . . "Efforts to manipulate Mr. Padilla and break his will also took the form of the denial of the few benefits he possessed in his cell. For a long time Mr. Padilla had no reading materials, access to any media, radio or television, and the only thing he possessed in his room was a mirror. The mirror was abruptly taken away, leaving Mr. Padilla with even less sensory stimulus. . . . "Mr. Padilla's dehumanization at the hands of his captors also took more sinister forms. Mr. Padilla was often put in stress positions for hours at a time. He would be shackled and manacled, with a belly chain, for hours in his cell. Noxious fumes would be introduced to his room causing his eyes and nose to run. The temperature of his cell would be manipulated, making his cell extremely cold for long stretches of time. Mr. Padilla was denied even the smallest, and most personal shreds of human dignity by being deprived of showering for weeks at a time, yet having to endure forced grooming at the whim of his captors. "A substantial quantum of torture endured by Mr. Padilla came at the hands of his interrogators. In an effort to disorient Mr. Padilla, his captors would deceive him about his location and who his interrogators actually were. Mr. Padilla was threatened with being forcibly removed from the United States to another country, including U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was threatened his fate would be even worse than in the Naval Brig. He was threatened with being cut with a knife and having alcohol poured on the wounds. He was also threatened with imminent execution. He was hooded and forced to stand in stress positions for long durations of time. He was forced to endure exceedingly long interrogation sessions, without adequate sleep, wherein he would be confronted with false information, scenarios, and documents to further disorient him. Often he had to endure multiple interrogators who would scream, shake, and otherwise assault Mr. Padilla. Additionally, Mr. Padilla was given drugs against his will, believed to be some form of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or phencyclidine (PCP), to act as a sort of truth serum during his interrogations. . . . "In sum, many of the conditions Mr. Padilla experienced were inhumane and caused him great physical and psychological pain and anguish. Other deprivations experienced by Mr. Padilla, taken in isolation, are merely cruel and some, merely petty. However, it is important to recognize that all of the deprivations and assaults recounted above were employed in concert in a calculated manner to cause him maximum anguish. It is also extremely important to note that the torturous acts visited upon Mr. Padilla were done over the course almost the entire three years and seven months of his captivity in the Naval Brig. For most of one thousand three hundred and seven days, Mr. Padilla was tortured by the United States government without cause or justification. Mr. Padilla's treatment at the hands of the United States government is shocking to even the most hardened conscience, and such outrageous conduct on the part of the government divests it of jurisdiction, under the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment, to prosecute Mr. Padilla in the instant matter." We have posted the entire Motion on our Website; and it is well worth reading. It will be interesting to see how the Government responds to this Motion and what new surprises the Government has in store for Padilla. |
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