Jailed in Iraq, American fighting for ISIS is denied lawyer

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government acknowledged Thursday that it has detained an American citizen accused of fighting with the Islamic State for more than two months without fulfilling his request to see a lawyer.

Responding to a court order, the government said the man picked up on the Syrian battlefield indicated he was willing to talk to FBI agents but “felt he should have an attorney present.”

The unidentified American, who has not been charged, surrendered to U.S.-backed fighters in Syria around Sept. 12 and is being held in Iraq as an unlawful enemy combatant.

The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a court petition challenging his detention and asking to act on his behalf to provide him access to legal counsel.

The detainee was in a legal “black hole,” Jonathan Hafetz, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU in New York, told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

The judge repeatedly asked Kathryn Wyer, an attorney in the Justice Department’s civil division, whether the detainee had requested an attorney or had been advised of his constitutional rights. When Wyer wouldn’t answer the questions, the judge ordered the government to respond by 5 p.m.

The government met the deadline with a two-page response.

It said that during questioning, FBI special agents advised the detainee of his right to remain silent even though he might have spoken earlier to other interrogators. That was an apparent reference to intelligence agents who are believed to have questioned the detainee first.

The government said the detainee also was advised of his right to an attorney.

“The individual stated he understood his rights and said he was willing to talk to the agents, but also stated that since he was in a new phase (of questioning), he felt he should have an attorney present,” the government said.

When the agents told the detainee it was unclear when he would be able to get an attorney, he “stated that it was OK and that he is a patient man,” the government said.

The detainee later said he “did not wish to speak with agents of the FBI” at all, the government said. No further questioning for law enforcement purposes has occurred.