The American Civil Liberties Union says the U.S. violated Padilla's rights when it labeled him an "enemy combatant" a decade ago and subjected him to interrogation that amounted to torture, including sleep and sensory deprivation in solitary confinement.

The watchdog legal group told The Associated Press it had filed a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which serves as the human-rights investigation arm of the Washington-based OAS.

The U.S. has argued in the past that it is not bound by the commission and views its findings as "only recommendations that the United States can ignore or it can follow," according to Steven Watt, the ACLU lawyer who filed the petition. But the findings could still prove awkward for the U.S., which sees itself as a leader on human rights and is quick to criticize other countries it views as falling short on that front.

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