Weil, Gotshal & Manges Works With The Urban Justice Center And Koob & Magoolaghan To Win Landmark Settlement Involving Post-9/11 Abused Prisoners; U.S. Government Agrees to Settle for $300,000.

NEW YORK -- Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP today announced a settlement agreement with the United States government regarding claims arising from the brutal abuse and mistreatment of Arab and South Asian Muslim men who were held in Federal detention in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.

Ehab Elmaghraby, an Egyptian Muslim man who was held in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center ("MDC") in Brooklyn, New York between October 2001 and August 2002, is the first such victim to receive compensation. Abuse of detainees at the MDC and abroad, at Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay, has been widely documented, but this is the first reported settlement related to such mistreatment.

During the eleven months that Mr. Elmaghraby was housed in the MDC - where he was held in solitary confinement in a super-maximum security unit called the ADMAX SHU that was specifically created to house so-called "terrorist" detainees - he was beaten by guards, who kicked and punched him, slammed him into walls, and dragged him along the ground while in shackles. Mr. Elmaghraby was also subjected to repetitive, needless, and abusive strip searches, isolated in his cell for at least 23 hours a day, threatened by guards, harassed in his efforts to pray, and denied adequate medical care. He was eventually deported to Egypt without ever being charged with terrorist activities. Upon his return to Egypt, Mr. Elmaghraby underwent several surgeries, and continues to receive medical care for persistent health problems resulting from the mistreatment he suffered while at the MDC.

The settlement agreement, filed in Federal court on February 27, 2006, provides for a payment of $300,000 to Mr. Elmaghraby to settle his federal tort claims against the United States government and federal officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Mr. Elmaghraby was one of more than 700 Arab and South Asian Muslim men across the country who were arrested after September 11th, charged with minor federal crimes and immigration violations, and treated as terrorists, despite the lack of any evidence showing them to have any connection to terrorism. As a result, Mr. Elmaghraby, who lived in the U.S. for over 10 years and worked as a street vendor and in a restaurant before his arrest on September 30, 2001, was placed in the ADMAX SHU.

"This settlement is a victory not just for me, but for all detainees who suffered at the hands of the federal government in the aftermath of September 11th," said Mr. Elmaghraby.

Mr. Elmaghraby is represented by the Urban Justice Center, a not-for-profit legal services organization that provides free legal services to low-income and immigrant communities in New York City, Koob & Magoolaghan, a civil rights law firm, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

"The settlement of Mr. Elmaghraby's case sends an important message that no matter who you are, where you are from, or what the circumstances, abuses such as this will not be accepted in the United States of America," said Mamoni Bhattacharyya of Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

"Our work doesn't end here," said David Ball of Weil, Gotshal. "Thousands of South Asian, Arab and Muslim men have been victimized by the discriminatory and brutal mistreatment following September 11th and we remain ready and willing to battle this injustice in the public interest."

Mr. Elmaghraby and another plaintiff--Javaid Iqbal, who experienced similar abuse and mistreatment, and who likewise was never charged with terrorist activities--filed suit in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn in April 2004. Although a number of defendants, including Messrs. Ashcroft and Mueller, urged that the plaintiffs' suit be dismissed because their treatment was justified by the needs of law-enforcement after the September 11th tragedy, Judge John Gleeson forcefully rejected these arguments in a September 2005 decision.

Other detainees have reported similar abuse in a separate class-action lawsuit, and an April 2003 report by the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice found a "pattern of abuse" of detainees by MDC correction officers. The suits brought by Mr. Iqbal and the class-action plaintiffs are continuing.

About the firm

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is an international law firm of over 1,200 lawyers, including approximately 300 partners. Weil Gotshal is headquartered in New York, with offices in Austin, Boston, Brussels, Budapest, Dallas, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Miami, Munich, Paris, Prague, Providence, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Warsaw, Washington DC and Wilmington.