Filed Date: July 8, 2005
Closed Date: March 27, 2007
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In 2005, plaintiffs, four Afghan and five Iraqi citizens who were incarcerated in U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively, filed suit against the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and three high-ranking U.S. Army officers, alleging violations of the Fifth Amendment due process clause, Fifth and Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, the law of nations prohibitions against torture and against cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. § 1350, and the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, 6 U.S.T. 3316 and 6 U.S.T. 3516. Plaintiffs alleged they were subject to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading detention while in U.S. military custody, including beatings, sexual assault, deprivation of food and medical care, and mock executions.
The plaintiffs originally filed separate actions in United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, the Northern District of Illinois, the District of South Carolina, and the Southern District of Texas. The multidistrict litigation was consolidated in United States District Court for the District of Columbia, pursuant to an order dated June 17, 2005 under 28 U.S.C. § 1407, and an amended consolidated complaint was filed in January 2006. The American Civil Liberties Union represented the plaintiffs.
In March 2006, each of the four defendants moved to dismiss the case. After extensive briefing and oral arguments, the district court dismissed the case against all defendants in March 2007 on the grounds that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity as to several counts of the complaint, and absolute immunity as to the law of nations and Geneva Conventions complaints, pursuant to the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act of 1988 (the Westfall Act), 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671, 2674, 2679. In re Iraq and Afghanistan Detainees Litigation, 479 F. Supp. 2d 85 (D.D.C. 2007). The district court declined plaintiffs' suggestion to infer causes of action for tort liability pursuant to Bivens.
The plaintiffs appealed on May 24, 2007 to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment of dismissal. Ali v. Rumsfeld, 649 F.3d 762 (D.C. Cir. 2011), rehearing en banc denied, (Sept. 19, 2011).
Summary Authors
Elizabeth Homan (11/11/2013)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4202692/parties/ali-v-rumsfeld/
Edwards, Harry Thomas (District of Columbia)
Henderson, Karen LeCraft (District of Columbia)
Chemerinsky, Erwin (North Carolina)
Guttentag, Lucas (California)
Hoffman, Paul L. (California)
Edwards, Harry Thomas (District of Columbia)
Henderson, Karen LeCraft (District of Columbia)
Hogan, Thomas Francis (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4202692/ali-v-rumsfeld/
Last updated March 24, 2024, 3:11 a.m.
State / Territory: District of Columbia
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: July 8, 2005
Closing Date: March 27, 2007
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Plaintiffs are four Afghan and five Iraqi citizens who were incarcerated in U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Department of Defense, Federal
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1350
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General:
Access to lawyers or judicial system
Policing:
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Placement in detention facilities
Type of Facility: