[JURIST] US Immigration Judge Kenneth Hurewitz has ruled that Basuyouy Mamdouh Ebaid should not be deported because he would likely be tortured in his native Egypt. Ebaid was found on a terrorist watch list for praising Osama bin Laden [Wikipedia backgrounder] and suicide bombers [Wikipedia backgrounder] after police arrested him for selling liquor to minors in his restaurant. Although Ebaid has not been charged with any terrorism-related crimes, federal officials want him deported after he admitted buying marijuana for personal use in 1999. In ruling against the government, Hurewitz cited an official US State Department human rights report [text] detailing Egypt's history of torturing terror suspects. The judge's concern echos those articulated by critics of new UK deportation rules for foreign extremists [JURIST report]; Human Rights Watch recently declared [BBC report] that "[s]ending suspects to a country where they are likely to be tortured is strictly prohibited under international law," and in particular the UN Convention Against Torture [text]. If US Department of Homeland Security officials do not appeal the Sept. 1 ruling, Ebaid will likely be freed. Aljazeera has more.