Pakistan citizen challenging secret CIA detention News
Pakistan citizen challenging secret CIA detention

[JURIST] A Pakistani citizen who says he has been detained in a secret facility for 18 months in connection with the CIA's extraordinary rendition program [JURIST news archive] will challenge his detention in the Pakistani Supreme Court, Amnesty International (AI) said in a press release [text] late Tuesday. Khalid Rashid [Wikipedia profile] was arrested in South Africa on illegal immigration charges in 2005. His family alleges he was then turned over to the CIA, which suspected that Rashid was involved in the deadly 2005 London subway bombings [JURIST news archive]. Rashid appeared before a Pakistani federal review board on April 12, where his lawyers announced they would file a petition challenging Rashid's continued detention in Pakistan as unlawful.

On Tuesday, an AI official said:

Mr Rashid has already suffered 18 months of secret detention and it is totally unacceptable for the Pakistan authorities to continue to deny him access to his lawyer, family and medical care. This situation must be immediately addressed and Mr Rashid be brought to justice in a fair trial or released without delay.

AI alleges that Rashid's family has petitioned the government to transfer him from the Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) [Wikipedia backgrounder] custody to another prison where he would be allowed access to family members and medical attention. Reuters has more as well as additional coverage.