The American Civil Liberties Union petitioned the U.S. government Wednesday for the release of a U.S. citizen who, the group alleges, has been under FBI scrutiny for years and has been imprisoned without charge in the United Arab Emirates for three months.
Naji Hamdan, 42, a former Hawthorne resident, was arrested Aug. 29 by Emirates state police at the request of the U.S. government, effectively putting Hamdan in U.S. custody, says the writ of habeas corpus filed by the ACLU in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
The ACLU hopes the lawsuit will compel the government to admit it was involved in Hamdan's detention and will lead to his release, said Ahilan Arulanantham of the ACLU.
Hamdan was arrested in the Emirates three weeks after two FBI agents flew from Los Angeles to the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi to question him, according to the lawsuit and Hamdan's brother, Hossam Hemdan, who spells his last name differently.
Arulanantham, director of immigrants' rights and national security for the ACLU of Southern California, said that the FBI had a years-long history of questioning and detaining Hamdan and that the State Department was slow to meet with him in the Emirates.
He said those pointed to U.S. involvement in Hamdan's imprisonment.
"We are confident about it because of the pattern," Arulanantham said.
FBI officials would not comment on the lawsuit and would not say whether the bureau had questioned Hamdan in the past.
"In terrorism matters, we routinely work with foreign counterparts, and in some cases, with the permission of the host government, FBI agents have been permitted to interview people who may possess relevant information. Being interviewed by the FBI does not mean the person is in U.S. custody," said an FBI statement released this week. "The FBI does not ask foreign nations to detain U.S. citizens on our behalf in order to circumvent their rights."
A State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs spokeswoman, citing privacy concerns, would not say whether the U.S. government was involved in Hamdan's current detention or whether officials were seeking his release.
The spokeswoman would confirm only that a U.S. citizen was in custody in the Emirates. She said a consular officer had met with the citizen on Oct. 19.
Richard Olson, U.S. ambassador to the Emirates, and the U.S. consulate sent letters to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Hamdan's wife, Mona Mallouk, confirming that a U.S. consul met with Hamdan while he was in custody and planned to meet with him again, according to court documents.
