Zahrani who died in detention at Guatanamo Bay has said that his lawyers intend to pursue his case against former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the US District Court or the Supreme Court. “The lawyers are looking at all aspects of the case after it was thrown out on the grounds that his death occurred outside US territory,” Talal Al-Zahrani said. Al-Zahrani claimed in his case against Rumsfeld that the US government “falsely declared” that his son had committed suicide, but his lawyers are now focusing on the District Court judge who based her ruling on a 2004 law prohibiting US courts from hearing cases occurring outside the country. “The 2004 law was changed by the US Congress in 2005, and new legislation empowers American courts to look into cases affecting American society,” he said. “The team is trying to persuade the judge to proceed with the case, but if they are not able to then they will appeal the court ruling at the Supreme Court. They will base their argument on two aspects of the case – instigation and cover up,” he said, referring to the official US line that the death was suicide. Al-Zahrani said that his lawyers are also planning to launch a media campaign to draw US public attention to the issue. “My son's case is of concern to the American public given that the perpetrators were ex-officials in the US government,” he said. “We have evidence that the American jailers violated prisoner rights and invaded privacy.” Yasser Tala Al-Zahrani died on June 10, 2006 at the age of 21. He was captured by US forces in Afghanistan when he was 16. His father has previously stated that Yasser had been in the area working for Islamic charities.
