Attempted plane bomber sues over civil rights violations News
Attempted plane bomber sues over civil rights violations

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called Christmas Day bomber, filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Colorado alleging violations of his constitutional rights.

Abdulmutallab, who attempted to detonate an underwear bomb [JURIST report] in an airplane bathroom on Christmas Day, 2009, argues that his First, Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights are being violated at the Administrative Maximum facility (ADX) [NYT backgrounder] in Florence, Colorado.

At ADX Abdulmutallab is placed in solitary restrictive confinement due to special administrative measures (SAMs) and is not allowed contact with other individuals. The complaint alleges the SAMs are a violation:

The communication restrictions contained in Mr. Abdulmutallab’s SAMs and implemented by the BOP are an unconstitutional deprivation of his First-Amendment rights to free speech and association. This infringement of Mr. Abdulmutallab’s First Amendment rights is not reasonably related to any legitimate penological interest.

Additionally, Abdulmutallab argues that the ADX facility refuses to allow him to practice his Islamic faith causing him to go on a hunger strike that has resulted in forced feedings.

At ADX, Mr. Abdulmutallab has been repeatedly force fed in a manner that is excessively and unnecessarily painful, abusive, dangerous, and degrading. On one occasion, the force-feeding tube was placed down his windpipe instead of his esophagus, causing the nutritional supplement liquid to enter his lungs and resulting in Mr. Abdulmutallab feeling like he was being drowned in a manner akin to waterboarding. On other occasions, even when the force-feeding tube was placed down Mr. Abdulmutallab’s esophagus, the high speed and high volume used for the feeding has caused pain and discomfort and has been unnecessarily risky to Mr. Abdulmutallab’s health.

Abdulmutallab further alleges that anti-Islamic slurs and actions are rampant in the facility due the active complicity of ADX employees.

The suit is asking for injunctive and declaratory relief.