SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Four British citizens released from Guantanamo Bay filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the United States seeking $10 million each in damages for abuse they allegedly suffered at the U.S. military outpost in Cuba, attorneys said Wednesday.
The suit on behalf of Shafiq Rasul, 26, Asif Iqbal, 22, Rhuhel Ahmed, 22, and Jamal Al-Harith, 37, was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and a Washington, D.C.-based law firm.
The four were released to British authorities in March after nearly three years at Guantanamo Bay. They were detained in northern Afghanistan on Nov. 28, 2001, by the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance.
The lawsuit alleges the four were chained to the floor while strobe lights and loud music were played in a room chilled by air conditioning set at maximum levels. The men say they were subjected to the conditions for up to 14 hours at a time.
They say they were stripped naked and forced to watch videotapes of other prisoners who had allegedly been ordered to sodomize each other. The men also allege that some of the guards threw the prisoners’ Qurans into the toilets.
Some of the men allege they were forcibly injected with drugs as part of the interrogation process and told they would get help only if they cooperated. Medical officials at Guantanamo have said medication is voluntary.
The Pentagon denied the abuse allegations, saying the men were properly held in Guantanamo after being captured in Afghanistan and having fought for al-Qaida.
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