The man, a Dutch-Pakistani dual citizen named Sabir Khan, faces charges in New York of conspiracy to commit murder and supporting al Qaeda. He was arrested by Pakistani forces in September 2010, allegedly at the request of the U.S., and held at a secret prison where he was tortured by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, Reuters reported.
The court ruled the Netherlands could not rule out that the CIA also had been involved in his torture. Dutch and international law prohibits the extradition of torture victims to countries that played a role in abuse.
In a letter sent to Dutch officials in October, Washington denied that U.S. authorities were involved in Khan’s arrest, but the Dutch court said it was not convinced the CIA had not played a part in his detention.
"This letter does not rule out the possible involvement of the CIA," the court in The Hague said in a statement. "Since it cannot be ruled out that it was the CIA which requested the arrest, the judge again forbids" his extradition.
Dutch authorities can appeal the ruling.
After his initial arrest in Pakistan, Khan, whose mother is Dutch, was flown to Holland and promptly detained again. His Dutch lawyers argued that the government there should determine whether Khan was arrested at the request of the U.S., and whether he would face a threat of further torture if he were extradited.
In December 2012, a Netherlands justice minister had granted his final approval for Khan’s extradition to the U.S.
Khan’s Dutch lawyers, however, were able to successfully launch a last-ditch effort with the country’s Supreme Court to halt the transfer, arguing that evidence did not make it abundantly clear that the U.S. was not complicit in his torture in Pakistan.
A U.S. Senate report last month showed that the CIA misled the White House and public about its torture of detainees following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and acted more brutally than it acknowledged in torturing al Qaeda and other captives in secret facilities worldwide between 2002 and 2006.
