US Supreme Court rejects cases on Guantanamo detainees’ mistreatment

The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear appeals about the torture of two inmates at the military-run Guantanamo Bay prison.

The two appeals, one relating to a Syrian detainee and the other pertaining to a Saudi Arabian inmate, were rejected on Monday by the Supreme Court.

In the first case, the court banned the Syrian man from suing the US government for the damage caused by mistreatment of him during seven years of incarceration.

Therefore, the court left in place the January 2014 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit against Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al Janko.

In his complaint, the Syrian inmate mentioned sleep deprivation, severe beatings, and lack of access to sufficient medical and psychological care during his imprisonment from 2002 to 2009.

However, the appeals court said it does not have the authority to hear such lawsuits citing some Congress directives.

In the other case, the Supreme Court blocked the release of some videos and photographs showing mistreatment of Saudi prisoner Mohammed al-Qahtani.

A Washington-based civil liberties group, the Center for Constitutional Rights, was actually seeking to have access to the images of al-Qahtani’s torture.

The appeals court said releasing the images could inflict harm on national security by inciting anti-American sentiment.

Thus, the September 2014 decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled against the release of those images under the Freedom of Information Act, was left in place by the justices.

The Guantanamo Bay prison at the US naval base in Cuba was opened in January 2002 to hold terror suspects captured during the so-called war on terror.