Gitmo detainee blinded by guards, lawyer says News
Gitmo detainee blinded by guards, lawyer says

[JURIST] A British permanent resident being held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST Hot Topic] has been blinded in one eye after an assault by guards at the prison, according to his lawyer. UK human rights attorney Clive Stafford Smith said that Omar Deghayes [Cageprisoners.com profile] lost sight in one eye after prison guards put pepper spray in his eyes and gouged one of them. Smith did not say why guards had assaulted Deghayes, although investigators suspect him of complicity in the Madrid bombings and the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The family of the 35-year-old came to Britain after fleeing Libya in 1986; Deghayes studied law in the UK there before moving after Sept. 11 to Afghanistan and then Pakistan, where he was arrested. He has applied for UK citizenship. The British government has not yet sought the release [BBC News report] of seven non-national UK residents [BBC News profile] being held at Guantanamo, despite pressure from activists. Deghayes' family pleaded for the UK government [BBC News report] to seek his release and for him to receive justice. Australian Broadcasting Corporation News has more.