U.N. panel accuses U.S. and 7 countries of torturing Saudi national

NEW YORK – A U.N. oversight panel has ruled that the U.S. and seven other countries are responsible for the illegal detention and torture of a Saudi detainee at the Guantanamo Bay facility.

The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention heard the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi national of Yemeni descent.

He is suspected of being the mastermind of the October 2000 suicide bombing of the missile destroyer USS Cole that killed 17 sailors.

According to lawyers, Nashiri was captured in Dubai in 2002.

For four years, he shuttled between various CIA black sites — in Afghanistan, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Romania, and Thailand – before being held at Guantanamo Bay in 2006.

After six years, he was indicted in 2008.

The case before the military commission imposing the death penalty is still in the pre-trial stage.

The UN panel called for a full and independent investigation into al-Nashiri’s detention, including an independent inquiry into his torture allegations.

The panel’s five independent experts said the appropriate remedy in the case was the immediate release of al-Nashiri and the granting of compensation and reparations to him.

Nashiri’s lawyer, Sylvain Savolainen, called the decision strong and important.

“The outcome was important to keep fighting to put an end to the infamy he has suffered, and still suffers,” said the lawyer. 

The working group said Nashiri had been discriminated against because of his nationality and religious beliefs.

In addition to the U.S., the panel accused Afghanistan, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates also for their involvement in Nashiri’s torture.

The UN group’s decisions carry political weight but are not binding.