British security services colluded in unlawful detention of terror suspect, court rules

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

British security services colluded in the unlawful detention and facilitated the interrogation of a British resident detained in Afghanistan six years ago, the high court ruled today.

Two judges ordered the foreign secretary to hand over to Binyam Mohamed's legal team secret information that could support his case that he was tortured in Pakistan and Morocco before being sent to Guantánamo Bay.

Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones found that the British security service "facilitated interviews by or on behalf of the United States incommunicado and without access to a lawyer in Pakistan" in 2002. The detention was unlawful under Pakistani law, the judges said.

Mohamed, 30, an Ethiopian national who worked as a caretaker in London, was charged by the US with terror offences in May and could face the death penalty if found guilty by a military tribunal.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/21/law.guantanamo1

[annabanana]

1. It seems the British judicial system is still functioning..

I'm jealous.

[dipsydoodle]

2. BBC link to same subject here

A UK resident detained at Guantanamo Bay has won a High Court ruling that the government should disclose material which he says backs his torture claims.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7574284.stm

[MasonJar]

3. Good! Get it to his lawyer and the whole debacle can become public.

[Maeve]

4. kick

[cal04]

5. (British)Court says Guantanamo documents should be released

Source: Associated Press

A British court ordered Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday to disclose secret documents that could prove critical to the defense of a Guantanamo Bay detainee who claims he was tortured while in U.S. custody on terrorism charges.

Miliband now has a week to decide whether to comply with the order to release of the documents pertaining to Binyam Mohamed's detention. The British government has argued the release of the documents could compromise national security, and it could appeal the court order.

The High Court made the ruling in the case of Mohamed, who was captured in Pakistan in April 2002 and accused of conspiring with al-Qaida leaders to attack civilians. His lawyers say the British government is withholding information about his treatment in U.S. custody which is critical to his hope of receiving a fair trial.

''The information held by the foreign secretary is not merely necessary, but essential, if Binyam Mohamed is to have his case fairly considered,'' Judge John Thomas wrote in the 75-page judgment.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Britain-Guantanamo.html

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R