Tina Monshipour Foster is an Iranian-American lawyer and director of the International Justice Network.[1][2]
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Legal career
editPrior to working in the field of human rights, Foster worked at Clifford Chance LLP in New York City. She later worked for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on Guantanamo Bay cases and is one of the plaintiffs in CCR v. Bush, filed on July 9, 2007.[3] Four other individuals filed this suit. Foster and her colleagues sued the US government objecting to the government's interception of their mail, email and phone calls. In 2006 Foster started International Justice Network (IJNetwork) placing focus on detainees held without charge, incommunicado in Bagram Prison in Afghanistan.
Human rights
editFoster submitted a writ of habeas corpus Ruzatullah v. Robert Gates -- 06-CV-01707 on behalf of Ruzatullah a captive held in the Bagram Theater internment facility.[4]
The Washington Post reported on June 29, 2008 on comments Foster made about Jawed Ahmad's detention in Bagram.[5]
It provides a convenient place to hold people who you might not want the world to know you are holding.
On July 20, 2008, Reuters reported the outrage Human Rights organizations are expressing over the seizing of journalists in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the "War on Terror". Foster was quoted as saying "there were no charges against Jawed, who was wounded while serving with U.S. Special Forces. He has not been accused of any crime either under U.S. law, Afghan law or international law," adding that "Jawed, like other detainees held by U.S., was regarded by Washington as an "enemy combatant".[6] Foster, executive director for International Justice Network, said there were no charges against Jawed, who was wounded while serving with U.S. Special Forces.
Comments on the new plans for Bagram review
editOn September 12, 2009 it was widely reported that unnamed officials told Eric Schmitt of the New York Times that the Obama administration was going to introduce new procedures that would allow the captives held in Bagram, and elsewhere in Afghanistan, to have their detention reviewed.[7][8] Josh Gerstein, of Politico, reported that Foster, who represents four Bagram captives, was critical of the new rules:
These sound almost exactly like the rules the Bush Administration crafted for Guanatmamo that were struck down by the Supreme Court or at least found to be an inadequate substitute for judicial review. They're adopting this thing that [former Vice President] Cheney and his lot dreamt up out of whole cloth. To adopt Gitmo-like procedures seems to me like sliding in the wrong direction.
Comments on the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on torture
editOn December 15, 2014, the Washington Post published an op-ed by Foster after the United States Senate Intelligence Committee published a 600-page unclassified summary of its classified report on the CIA's use of torture.[9] Foster described how the report devoted a whole section to the CIA's torture of one of her clients, Redha al-Najar. She listed all the torture techniques the CIA used on him, and asserted that the CIA tortured him for nearly 700 days.
References
edit- ^ Kawkab al-Thaibani (2007-07-24). "Yemeni Detainee Can Continue His Case". International Justice Network. Archived from the original on 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
- ^ "Lawyer roster: Tina M. Foster". Lawyer Roster. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
- ^ "Center for Constitutional Rights v. George W. Bush -- Case No. 06-cv-313" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. July 9, 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ Tina Monshipour Foster (2007-08-01). "Ruzatullah v. Robert Gates -- 06-CV-01707" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
- ^ Del Quentin Wilber (2008-06-29). "In Courts, Afghanistan Air Base May Become Next Guantanamo". Washington Post. p. A14. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
- ^
"Rights groups chide U.S. for holding Afghan journalist". Reuters. 2008-07-20. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
He has not been accused of any crime either under U.S. law, Afghan law or international law," she said, adding that Jawed, like other detainees held by U.S., was regarded by Washington as an "enemy combatant".
- ^ Eric Schmitt (2009-09-12). "U.S. to Expand Review of Detainees in Afghan Prison". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Josh Gerstein (2009-09-12). "Pentagon debuts new process for Bagram prisoners". Politico. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^
Tina M. Foster (2014-12-15). "My client, a CIA torture victim". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
An entire section of the U.S. Senate intelligence committee's executive summary of the CIA torture report focuses on the sadistic abuse of one of my clients. The excerpt, titled "CIA Headquarters Recommends That Untrained Interrogators in Country . . . Use the CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Techniques on" Redha al-Najar, contains detailed descriptions of the specific methods of torture my client was subjected to while in CIA custody.