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Former Guantanamo prisoner sues Australian government
Brutal beatings, electric shocks and sexual humiliation will be the cornerstones of a case brought by Mamdouh Habib, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee from Australia who is suing the government in Canberra over his alleged torture in captivity.
Habib has insisted that Australian consular representatives were present when he was abused in detention following his arrest on suspicion of involvement in terrorism in Pakistan in 2001, before he was transferred to Egypt and Afghanistan. The former café owner was later flown to the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and held without trial for over three years.
Judges in Sydney have ruled that the Egyptian-born Muslim can pursue a civil case for unspecified damages against the Australian government, which has always denied Habib's allegations that its officials were complicit in his mistreatment.
"Whatever [compensation] they give me is not enough. I want to see the people who harmed me in jail. I want these people to be punished," Habib said after a recent court appearance in Sydney. "The Australian government is covering up corruption and the crimes against me. I want the world to know."
The ex-prisoner has detailed a catalog of alleged mistreatment at the hands of foreign interrogators and has claims to have almost daily flashbacks of the cruelty he endured.