Lawyers for Mohammed Jawad, the Afghan national who was a minor when he was first detained by the U.S. government and was recently released to Afghanistan, intend to sue the U.S. government in part to prevent torture from ever being used again. Jawad spent seven years in detention based on evidence that was gained through torture.
Speaking from Kabul, Maj. Eric Montalvo, Jawad's military commissions defense lawyer, said that "from a policy standpoint, it’s a disincentive for the United States to engage in that type of conduct. ... You have punitive damages, you have a lawsuit that creates precedent ... and it may create a pause for the U.S. government should they decide to do this in the future."
Montalvo said that the Jawad case provided a unique opportunity to deal with the torture issue, because the circumstances of the case are so well known. "The Jawad case is a perfect case to put forward, because there has been documented abuse ... in some of the other cases, there's a he said she said, whereas here we have tangible evidence of the abuse, so that puts this case in a particularly strong posture to move forward on."
Montalvo added that he had been frustrated with the State Department's efforts on behalf of Jawad's repatriation, arguing that they hadn't provided much financial or medical support for Jawad's transition back into society. Montalvo said this was indicative of a larger problem with the way the U.S. handles the repatriation of detainees. "My concern is that if the U.S. is worried about someone being repatriated and turning to the dark side if you will, or becoming an antagonist in the future, they're certainly doing a poor job of preventing it by depriving someone of everything but the shirt on their back and sticking them on a bus stop corner.”
Montalvo said that he had met with the State Department earlier that morning, and that they had agreed to offer Jawad more help. The BBC reported earlier this morning that Jawad's lawyers were intending to sue for "compensation."
-- A. Serwer
