US Court Finds 5th Amendment Rights Apply to Foreign Interrogations

On February 16, 2001, Judge Leonard B. Sand unsealed his opinion with respect to foreign defendants motion to suppress statements made during interrogation by U.S. investigators in Africa with respect to the bombings against the U.S. embassies. On October 13, 2000, Al-‘Owhali moved to suppress his statements made during interrogation by U.S. law enforcement representatives while he was held in Kenya under Kenyan custody and an out-of-court witness identification conducted by Kenyan authorities according to Kenyan procedure. Khalfan Khamis Mohamed (KK Mohamed) and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh also filed similar motions to dismiss. The court granted Al-‘Owhali’s motion in part and denied it in part, whereas it denied Mohamed’s motion in its entirety. The court addressed Odeh’s motion in a separate sealed opinion also filed on February 16, 2001…[more]