US Supreme Court refuses to hear El-Masri Case

On 9th October 2007 the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed on behalf of the German citizen of Lebanese descent Khaled el-Masri. He claims to have been abducted by US agents and then tortured by them while imprisoned in Afghanistan. The fate of Mr el-Masri has been subject to intensive scrutiny in the investigations of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament on the involvement of European authorities in CIA activities on European territory. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Mr el-Masri had brought a lawsuit in US federal courts against George Tenet, director of the CIA from 1997 to 2004, seeking damages for illegal treatment.

In an appeal court ruling of March 2007 the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit accepted the US government’s invocation of the «state secrets privilege» arguing that to be forced to provide evidence in the case would compromise national security. ACLU and el-Masri challenged this ruling, supported among others by Dick Marty, the Council of Europe special investigator, stating that in this case nothing is actually secret anymore. Without comment or reasoning, however, the Supreme Court denied the opening of the case.

Documents:

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/orders/courtorders/100907pzor.pdf

Previous rulings : US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 06-1667, 2 March 2007

Amicus Curiae, Dick Marty