Idema

Tin Soldier An American Vigilante In Afghanistan, Using the Press for Profit and Glory
By Mariah Blake

http://www.superpatriots.us/aboutthecase/genevaconvention.htm#Article_47_Text

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Imprisoned Terrorist Hunter to Be Freed

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

Jack Idema 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. counterterrorism 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 April 5. ``Indeed, as of the time of this filing, it is our understanding that Mr. Idemas release is imminent.''

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 lawyer, John E. Tiffany, said the U.S. government coordinated Idema's amnesty to avoid having to respond to the allegations of torture and government misconduct.

``The Aghan government doesn't do anything unless the United States government tells them to do it,'' Tiffany said. ``They got caught with their pants down. Finally, a federal judge with courage and intellect said, 'Hey, wait a minute. Let's look at this.''

Tiffany compared the case to that of Jose Padilla, who was arrested in 2002 on suspicion of plotting to detonate a radioactive ``dirty bomb.'' Padilla was declared an enemy combatant and was held in a brig without criminal charges. Before the Supreme Court could decide whether that was legal, the government reversed course and charged him in civilian court on lesser charges.

``They would like nothing more than never having to respond,'' Tiffany said. ``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.''

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

Idema was captured in 2004 along with fellow Americans Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo. Idema and Bennett a former U.S. soldiers. Caraballo was an investigative journalist. Bennett and Caraballo have since been released.

Tiffany said Tuesday he did not know whether Idema has been freed. An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said Idema remains in Policharki, the main prison in Kabul.

The Justice Department said in court documents that Idema was holding up his own release by refusing to leave Afghanistan without Bennett's dog.

``Mr. Idema replied with words to the effect that he had made a promise to Mr. Bennett on his life that he would take the dog with him when he went, and that the only way he would leave Afghanistan without the dog was if they carried out his dead body,'' government attorneys wrote.

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan said it had no comment on Idema's case.

Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report from Kabul, Afghanistan.
04/10/07 16:41 EDT

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U.S. Afghan fighter sues news agency

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer

Article Last Updated: 07/12/2007 10:55:18 AM MDT

NEW YORK - A U.S. citizen once convicted of rrunning a private jail in Afghanistan for terror suspects and torturing them has sued The Associated Press, alleging it engaged in defamation, libel and slander.

Jack Idema, a former Green Beret from Fayetteville, N.C., filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeking at least $110,000 and other unspecified damages.

Idema, who listed a current address in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was convicted of charges including torture and operating a private jail and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Afghanistan in September 2004. He was later pardoned by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and left that country in June.

In his lawsuit, Idema accused the AP of ignoring truths about his work in Afghanistan to generate a "hot salient and torrid story of abuse in Afghanistan" to compete with a CBS story about allegations of torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

He also accused the AP of reneging on promises not to publish photographs and videotaped images provided by Idema or his lawyers unless it obtained publishing rights from his licensing agent, Polaris Images.

Dave Tomlin, AP associate general counsel, said: "The whole lawsuit is nonsense. The claims that reflect on the integrity and professionalism of AP staff are especially outrageous."

According to the lawsuit, Idema had fought with the Northern Alliance against the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and remained with the forces until June 2002, when he returned to the United States. He was not a member of the U.S. military at that time.

In April 2004, Idema was back in Afghanistan, working closely with U.S. and Afghan military and intelligence activities, the lawsuit said. He was arrested a few months later.

The U.S. military has said it accepted a prisoner from Idema before realizing he was an impostor and releasing the prisoner without charge. NATO peacekeepers have said they were duped into helping Idema on three raids.

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Habeas Corpus Case has been dismissed File 1 File 2

Idema, Keith aka Idema, John Keith aka Idema, Jonathan aka "Jack"

Idema, Keith
aka Idema, John Keith
aka Idema, Jonathan
aka "Jack"