Padilla files suit against U.S. officials

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Convicted al-Qaida member Jose Padilla is suing 60 current and former U.S. officials for what his lawyers claim were abusive tactics used against him.

Padilla's suit, which counts former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld among its defendants, claims abusive and unconstitutional interrogation tactics were used against him between 2002 and 2006, when he was considered an enemy combatant in U.S. military custody, the Christian Science Monitor reported Friday.

"Mr. Padilla suffered gross physical and psychological abuse at the hands of federal officials as part of a scheme of abusive interrogation intended to break down Mr. Padilla's humanity and his will to live," the 30-page complaint says.

"The grave violations suffered by Padilla were not isolated occurrences by rogue lower-level officials," the suit says.

The suit also names Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and former Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lowell Jacoby, and others who "personally ordered and/or approved Mr. Padilla's detention and interrogation program."