The Defense Department plans to release a U.S. citizen accused of fighting for ISIS who is currently held in Iraq, a Justice Department court filing showed.
The unnamed American, who was turned over to U.S. forces by U.S.-backed militia fighting ISIS in Syria, has been detained since September, CNN writes. According to the DOJ’s Wednesday filing, the dual American-Saudi citizen is to be released in a Syrian town no sooner than three days from the time of the filing. The name of the town was not provided.
The government did, however, write that the organization which represents the man, American Civil Liberties Union, was informed about the Pentagon’s intent, but added that the man “would not agree to the release” as described.
“Accordingly, out of an abundance of caution, the Department is filing this Notice of its intent to release Petitioner in the town specified in the Declaration,” the filing read.
However, the ACLU condemned the government’s plan, calling it a “death warrant,” and arguing that it entails an unsafe release of their client which could be life-threatening.
“The government has effectively admitted that it has no reason to continue detaining our client and that he does not pose a threat. But, instead of offering a safe release, they want to dump an American citizen onto the side of the road in a war-torn country without any assurances of protection and no identification,” ACLU attorney Jonathan Hafetz said in a statement.
“This is a country that the government itself has classified as an absolute ‘do not travel’ threat, encouraging citizens to ‘draft a will’ and ‘leave DNA samples with [their] medical provider[s]’ in the event they decide not to heed the government’s warning,” he continued.
Hafetz further called the plan “disgraceful” and said they will request the court to intervene so that a safe release of the U.S. citizen is ensured.
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