27Dec03-Nancy Weiner-Two Years Gone - Post-9/11 Detainee Still Held Without Charges
By Nancy Weiner
B U F F A L O, N.Y., Dec. 27 — Benemar Benatta still isn't sure why the U.S. government kept him locked in solitary confinement long after it knew he had nothing to do with 9/11.
"I am not [a] criminal," Benatta said. "I [have] never been a criminal."
An electronics technician in the Algerian air force, Benatta was sent to the United States in 2000 to train with a military plane manufacturer.
But just six days before 9/11, he fled to Canada, seeking asylum.
Fake ID
He was detained at the border for having false identification. Then the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon happened, and the 29-year-old Muslim was sent to a prison in New York City where he says he was locked in solitary confinement 24 hours a day.
"If they took me outside, outside my cell, sometimes they twist my hands," Benatta said. "Sometimes they knock my head with the wall."
Two months later, the FBI cleared Benatta of any connection to terrorists. But Benatta was never told that he had been cleared, and he remained in solitary confinement without legal representation for five more months.
"No attorney that I know of knew that he existed," said Joe Mistrett, a federal public defender now representing Benatta.
Eventually, Benatta was sent to a detention facility in Buffalo, N.Y., to face charges for possession of a fake American ID, and granted a lawyer — Mistrett.
"I'm not faulting the government for taking an interest in Benemar Benatta," Mistrett said. "I just don't understand why they persisted, and the way he was held in custody."
Two Years Gone
Post-9/11 Detainee Still Held Without Charges
By Nancy Weiner
B U F F A L O, N.Y., Dec. 27 — Benemar Benatta still isn't sure why the U.S. government kept him locked in solitary confinement long after it knew he had nothing to do with 9/11.
"I am not [a] criminal," Benatta said. "I [have] never been a criminal."
An electronics technician in the Algerian air force, Benatta was sent to the United States in 2000 to train with a military plane manufacturer.
But just six days before 9/11, he fled to Canada, seeking asylum.
Fake ID
He was detained at the border for having false identification. Then the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon happened, and the 29-year-old Muslim was sent to a prison in New York City where he says he was locked in solitary confinement 24 hours a day.
"If they took me outside, outside my cell, sometimes they twist my hands," Benatta said. "Sometimes they knock my head with the wall."
Two months later, the FBI cleared Benatta of any connection to terrorists. But Benatta was never told that he had been cleared, and he remained in solitary confinement without legal representation for five more months.
"No attorney that I know of knew that he existed," said Joe Mistrett, a federal public defender now representing Benatta.
Eventually, Benatta was sent to a detention facility in Buffalo, N.Y., to face charges for possession of a fake American ID, and granted a lawyer — Mistrett.
"I'm not faulting the government for taking an interest in Benemar Benatta," Mistrett said. "I just don't understand why they persisted, and the way he was held in custody."
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