Pakistani journalist Jawed Ahmad, a 22-year-old reporter who worked for Canadian TV (CTV), said on Tuesday that he planned to force the U.S. government to apologize (and pay) for detaining him for well over 11 months, and – according to him – torturing him while imprisoned.

Ahmad was arrested by American troops because they suspected him of being in the tank for the Taliban. He had, the U.S. military said, “an unlawful combatant.”

He was accused of having contact with Taliban leaders. He even had their telephone numbers and had video footage of them, the military claimed.

11 months later, Ahmad was released. His case never went to court.

“I want justice. I’ll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I’ll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I’ll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice,” Ahmad said.

“I was tortured and jailed for 11 months and 20 days for doing nothing,” he added.

“They have destroyed my future, my soul. I’ll fight until they apologize to me and give me back what I have lost,” he said.

Ahmad claims that the U.S. tortured him; they would not have allowed him to sleep for a nine-day period, and slammed his head against the walls on several occasions. Additionally, Ahmad told reporters, they put him in a cell with mentally ill prisoners who then proceeded to beat him up whenever they could.

“I’m not a terrorist, I have never been a terrorist. I’m a journalist. With the help of other journalists and human rights (organizations), I’ll fight for my rights.”

The U.S. military responded to the accusations brought forth by Ahmad: “We don’t have any evidence of his mistreatment while in detention here,” U.S. Captain Christian Patterson said.

Quite reporters have worked with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban, leading the U.S. military and others to be extremely cautious when a specific reporters seems to be able to produce material that reflects badly on U.S. forces regularly, as seemed to be the case with Ahmad.

The habit of the United States military, meanwhile, to lock up suspects without giving them any tools to defend themselves continues to anger and frustrate the rest of the world, especially Moslem countries and Europe.