Gitmo detainee suing Canadian government has Edmonton lawyer
An Edmonton lawyer is representing a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who is suing the Canadian government for its alleged complicity in abuse carried out by American officials.
Algerian national Djamel Ameziane is claiming $50 million in damages, alleging the Canadian government co-operated with the United States while he was being arbitrarily detained without cause in the notorious American military prison in Cuba.
His lawyer, Edmonton’s Nate Whitling, confirmed the statement of claim was filed Monday in Ontario Superior Court.
Ameziane, 50, was never charged or prosecuted for criminal activities. The allegations he makes in his statement of claim have not been proven in court.
Born in Algeria, Ameziane ended up in Canada in December 1995 and asked for refugee status.
He lived in Montreal for five years, attending mosques where
the Americans said members of al-Qaida prayed.
At some point, unbeknownst to Ameziane, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP began gathering intelligence on him and other members of the Montreal Muslim community in the wake of an attempted terrorist attack known as the “millennium plot,” according to the statement of claim.
Ameziane’s asylum application was rejected by Canada, but he decided to go to Afghanistan instead of returning to Algeria, where he feared for his safety.
While attempting to leave Afghanistan in October 2001 to escape escalating violence there, he was captured and handed over to American forces.
The lawsuit alleges that after being tortured and detained in Kandahar, he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in February 2002, and that the Americans’ decision to transfer Ameziane was based on information and intelligence obtained in part from the Canadian government.
The lawsuit alleges that while being held in Guantanamo, Ameziane was subjected to horrific physical and psychological abuses.
It also alleges that Canadian officials arrived at Guantanamo and interrogated Ameziane multiple times, despite being aware of reports of abuse and mistreatment of detainees, and being aware that Ameziane was being held with no charges and no access to legal counsel.
Whitling has said that Ameziane’s case calls for a full-scale public inquiry into Canada’s alleged role in the treatment of innocent military detainees held in Guantanamo Bay.
Whitling also represents Omar Khadr, who was also detained with Ameziane at Guantanamo Bay, according to the statement of claim.
Khadr was recently awarded an out-of-court settlement worth a reported $10.5-million by the government of Canada.
In July, the federal government issued a formal apology for any role it may have played in Khadr’s mistreatment while in U.S. military custody.