Not Quite Right

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4504292.stm

At first I thought it had to be a mistake. A man suing the CIA for allegedly subjecting him to the process known as "rendition", taking him to Afghanistan where he was detained for five months and, he says, tortured, and he's only asking for USD75k plus an apology.
I figured it had to be a typo, and someone had missed out a zero or five. Then I found another article that had the same number in it.
Then the penny dropped. The man isn't American. The idea of getting obscenely rich from this unfortunate incident may well have never even occurred to him, or if it did (or was mentioned by the good folks at ACLU) he obviously decided that this is a matter of principle not crass lucre. Which is a little silly, since for such a meagre sum the CIA will likely settle just to keep it out of court. Sue them for nine figures, refuse to settle for less, and see them in court.

In some ways his position is admirable, but in others it's somewhat concerning. This could all end up being swept under the carpet, unless the lawyers make the terms of the apology so explicit and verbose that the CIA simply won't agree to its publication. That may be their plan - I hope it's their plan - but if it's not I foresee another fizzle in the attempts to bring the CIA to the heel of civilsed behaviour.