WASHINGTON (AFP) — A US court Friday turned down a claim by four British former detainees that they were tortured at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, saying accused officials acted as part of their jobs.
"The alleged tortious (wrongful) conduct was incidental to the defendants' legitimate employment duties" to interrogate the suspects, Judge Karen Henderson wrote in the ruling.
The four Britons were among hundreds of suspected extremists detained at the prison, many without trial, since it opened exactly six years ago to house prisoners seized abroad in the US "war on terror."
Friday's ruling coincided with protests in cities around the world to mark the sixth anniversary of the prison's opening, with demonstrators calling for it to be closed and for detainees there to be tried in regular courts.
The four Britons, released from Guantanamo without charge in 2004, pressed a 10-million-dollar civil suit for damages against Donald Rumsfeld -- defense secretary at the time of their detention -- and officials at Guantanamo.
"In addition to Rumsfeld's approval of these interrogation techniques, the detainees assert that the other defendants implemented, supervised and condoned their torture and detention," the court decision said.
Without addressing the details of the alleged treatment, the judge said the officials could not be made individually responsible for it under the terms of the suit brought against them, since they were doing their jobs.
"While the plaintiffs challenge the methods the defendants used to perform their duties, the plaintiffs do not allege that the defendants acted as rogue officials or employees who implemented a policy of torture for reasons unrelated to the gathering of intelligence," the ruling said.
The men said that in their two years of detention they were beaten, threatened with dogs, shackled in painful positions, deprived of sleep, food and care and subjected to extreme temperatures.
They also said guards harassed them in their religious practices by playing loud rock music at prayer time, confiscating prayer mats, shaving the Muslims' beards and insulting the Koran by putting the holy book in a toilet bucket.
The rejection of this suit does not rule out possible criminal proceedings in future, and the men can also take the case to the US Supreme Court.
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