Afghan prison to release N.C. man

A U.S. judge wants State Department, FBI to respond to allegations of torture

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. citizen is scheduled to be released from an Afghan prison, and the State Department and FBI faced a Tuesday deadline to answer allegations they ordered his torture and manipulated the Afghan judicial system.

Jack Idema, of Fayetteville, N.C., is the last of three U.S. citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a mission sanctioned by U.S. counter- terrorism officials -- a claim that U.S. officials have denied.

Attorneys for the three men filed a lawsuit in Washington in 2005 challenging their detention. In court documents, Idema accused the State Department and FBI of illegally keeping him imprisoned in a deplorable Afghan prison, directing his torture and destroying evidence. He said he has audio recordings and documents to back up his claims.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said he was "deeply troubled" by the allegations and gave the U.S. government until Tuesday to respond.

"Petitioners allege that United States officials ordered their arrest, ordered their torture, stole exculpatory evidence during their trial and appeal, exerted undue influence over Afghan judges, and either directly or indirectly ordered judges who found petitioners innocent not to release petitioners from prison," Sullivan wrote.

The Justice Department, which represents the U.S. government in court, did not respond. Instead, government attorneys asked that the case be thrown out because they say the Afghan government granted Idema amnesty and commuted his sentence.

"As soon as the travel arrangements for Mr. Idema's departure from the country are made, his release and deportation should follow imminently," government attorneys wrote Thursday.

Sullivan has not ruled on whether to dismiss the case. If he does not dismiss it, he said, the government will have a month from the time of that decision to respond to Idema's accusations.

Idema's attorney, John E. Tiffany, said the U.S. government coordinated Idema's amnesty to avoid having to respond to the allegations.

"If they have to respond to a laundry list of areas that the judge very clearly laid out, you put yourself of great risk of taking positions that will be exposed as lies," Tiffany said.

Government attorneys said that's not the case. The State Department learned that Idema's amnesty was final March 15, nearly a week before Sullivan's order, according to court documents.

Idema was captured in 2004 along with Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo. Idema and Bennett are former U.S. soldiers. Caraballo was an investigative journalist. Bennett and Caraballo have been released. Tiffany said Tuesday that he did not know whether Idema has been freed.