Mohamed et al v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc

Forum: US Supreme Court
INTERIGHTS role: Amicus curiae
Keywords: Torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, enforced disappearance, extraordinary rendition, due process

On 12 January 2011, INTERIGHTS, the International Commission of Jurists, the World Organization Against Torture, Redress Trust, and international legal scholars Robert K. Goldman, Senator Dick Marty, Manfred Nowak and Judge Stefan Trechsel, submitted to the US Supreme Court a brief as amicus curiae in support of the petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Binyam Mohamed and four other victims of extraordinary rendition against Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., the company that allegedly filed falsified flight plans for the CIA rendition flights. The petition to the US Supreme Court seeks to challenge the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's holding that the case should be summarily dismissed on state secrets grounds.
 
The intervenors argued that the practice of extraordinary rendition has created a class of individuals, namely 'terror suspects,' who have been subjected to torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and enforced disappearance, and who were provided with no form of due process during their detention. The application of the state secrets doctrine exacerbates these violations of international law by denying these individuals the opportunity to state  their case and seek redress for their injuries through judicial review.

The intervenors further submitted that the Ninth Circuit erred in affirming the district court's dismissal granting the US Government motion to dismiss on the basis of the state secrets doctrine. In doing so, the court's decision denies the Petitioners their right to an effective remedy for serious violations of international law. The intervenors argued that for these reasons, the US Supreme Court should grant the petition for a writ of certiorari.

Click here to read the amicus curiae

Click here to read the petition for certiorari

INTERIGHTS contacts: Helen Duffy and Vesi Vandova.