Court rules U.S. officials can be sued in Sept 11 abuse case

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070615/ts_nm/security_abuse_dc;_ylt=Ak8_lZDDLIWPUuvRADYkgl6s0NUE

U.S. officials can be sued in Sept 11 abuse case

By Christine Kearney Thu Jun 14, 8:12 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani man who says he was abused in detention after the September 11 attacks can name the FBI director and a former U.S. attorney general in his lawsuit against the government, an appeals court ruled on Thursday.

Javaid Iqbal, a Muslim, was held for more than a year at a Brooklyn detention center after the September 11 attacks. He, along with hundreds of Muslims and Arabs sued the U.S. government, claiming they were abused and held for no legitimate reason.

Iqbal says he was subjected to repeated strip searches, beaten, dragged across the floor and that the lights in his cell were kept on 24 hours a day.

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The court said while they recognized "the gravity of the situation that confronted investigative officials of the United States as a consequence of the 9/11 attack," Iqbal still had the right to not be harshly treated or discriminated against.

"The exigent circumstances of the post-9/11 context do not diminish the plaintiff's right not to be needlessly harassed and mistreated in the confines of a prison cell by repeated strip and body-cavity searches," the court said.

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