US Court orders release of Tamil asylum seeker

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 March 2006, 22:28 GMT]
US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco Friday ordered release of a Tamil Sri Lankan asylum seeker detained since October 2001 in San Diego on suspicion that he once belonged to the Liberation Tigers, an organization included in the US Terrorism List, Washington Post Saturday edition reported.

The decision by a three member panel to release Ahilan Nadarajah, 25, is among the first to challenge the Bush Administration's assertion that it may hold suspects indefinitely on terrorism charges while seeking to remove them from the US.

Judge Sidney R Thomas said: "The [US] Government does not possess the authority under the general detention statutes to hold Nadarajah or any other alien who is similarly situated indefinitely," according to Washingto Post.

Ahilan Arulanantham, a staff lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said that the court's decision might lead to the release of another asylum seeker on its client list who has been detained for years, the paper said.

Court documents said that Sri Lanka Army [SLA] soldiers swept into the Nadarajah's family home, "beat him, blind folded him and took him into their camp." Nadarajah was tortured but was released when his mother bribed an SLA soldier. He soon escaped to the US and arrested when he walked into US at the Mexico border, the Post said.

An immigration judge granted him asylum in 2003, saying the story was credible.

"The [US] Government got it completely wrong about my client. He is a torture victim and the government just ignored immigration court's decisions [in 2003] and kept him locked up. You can't just ignore that the immigration courts have found that he is not a threat to our country [US,] the Post quoted Arulanantham as saying.


Related Articles:
11.05.05   Civil Group advocates changes to US Terrorism Laws

 

Latest 15 Reports
24.04.22 05:44  
தீவின் நெருக்கடிச் சூழலில் ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசம் கடைப்பிடிக்கவேண்டிய நிலைப்பாடுகள்
09.04.22 14:44   Photo
குறிதவறும் ஈழத்தமிழர் தலைமைகளுக்கு வரலாறு தருகின்ற எச்சரிக்கை
21.01.22 07:24   Photo
ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசத்தின் தலைமைத்துவம் தேர்தல் அரசியற் கட்சிகளுக்கு அப்பாலானது
02.11.21 15:32   Photo
13 ஆம் சட்டத்திருத்தத்தால் கட்டமைக்கப்பட்ட இன அழிப்பை எதிர்கொள்ள முடியுமா?
15.09.21 08:19  
English version not available
17.05.21 19:23   Photo
Ananthi blames war criminal Silva for blocking collective memorial at Mu'l'livaaykkaal
09.04.21 14:46  
English version not available
23.03.21 12:41   Photo
No focus on Tamil genocide, geopolitics gets played out in Geneva in favour of QUAD formation
21.03.21 13:34   Photo
Navi Pillay explains ‘human rights’ limitations in Geneva on Tamil genocide
15.03.21 20:36   Photo
Deceived Tamil activists in UK falsely claimed ‘substantial changes’ to Zero draft
09.03.21 21:34   Photo
UK repeatedly wronged Tamils says hunger-striker, demands genocide justice
26.02.21 11:53   Photo
Tamils witness false dilemma in Geneva as geopolitical formations pit against each other
19.02.21 14:02   Photo
UK not prepared to push for ICC option in new UNHRC Resolution
07.02.21 23:16   Photo
Unprecedented P2P uprising paves the way for rights-oriented politics of Tamils and Muslims
22.01.21 08:01   Photo
Gotabaya sets up deceptive COI citing ‘sovereignty’ and ‘non-aligned’ foreign policy
 
Find this article at:
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=17502