Padilla Claims Military Gave Him LSD

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2006 — -- Attorneys for Jose Padilla make some explosive new allegations in recent court filings, claiming the so-called "dirty bomber" was tortured and given psychedelic drugs -- such as PCP and LSD -- while the U.S. military held him as an enemy combatant.

In recently filed court documents asking a federal judge to dismiss the terrorism charges against him, Padilla's attorneys claim he was "tortured by the United States government without cause or justification."

The forms of torture included isolation, prolonged sleep deprivation, exposure to extremely cold temperatures and shackling in "stress positions" for hours at a time, according to the documents.

The Bush administration had no immediate response to the charges. The Justice Department has until mid-November to respond.

Padilla was arrested in Chicago in May 2002 and accused by then U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft of plotting an attack using a radiological or dirty bomb. But Padilla was transferred to military custody because U.S. authorities at the time decided it was more imperative to interrogate him without regard to a pending trial.

Last year, the government decided to charge Padilla in civilian court -- but the charges against him made no mention of the dirty bomb plot or any statements he made during the more than three years he had been held in a military brig in South Carolina.

The new charges alleged he was part of a North America terrorism cell supporting Islamic radicals.

Here are specific quotes from the filing by Padilla's lawyers:

"[Padilla] had to endure multiple interrogators who would scream, shake, and otherwise assault Mr. Padilla. Additionally, Mr. Padilla was given drugs against his will, believed to be some form of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or phencyclidine (PCP), to act as a sort of truth serum during his interrogations."

"In an effort to gain Mr. Padilla's 'dependency and trust,' he was tortured for nearly the entire three years and eight months of his unlawful detention. The torture took myriad forms, each designed to cause pain, anguish, depression and, ultimately, the loss of will to live."

"A substantial quantum of torture endured by Mr . Padilla came at the hands of his interrogators. In an effort to disorient Mr. Padilla, his captors would deceive him about his location and who his interrogators actually were. Mr. Padilla was threatened with being forcibly removed from the United States to another country, including U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was threatened his fate would be even worse than in the Naval Brig. He was threatened with being cut with a knife and having alcohol poured on the wounds. He was also threatened with imminent execution. He was hooded and forced to stand in stress positions."

"His isolation, furthermore, was aggravated by the efforts of his captors to maintain complete sensory deprivation . His tiny cell -- nine feet by seven feet -- had no view to the outside world. The door to his cell had a window, however, it was covered by a magnetic sticker, depriving Mr. Padilla of even a view into the hallway and adjacent common areas of his unit."

The U.S. government maintains it does not torture.