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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 19th,
2009 - Government Apologises for Torture Cover-Up |
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Government
Apologises for Torture Cover-Up By David Leppard & Kevin Dowling The Sunday Times April 19, 2009 The government has
apologised to two High Court judges after discovering that an MI5 officer
misled them over the case of a British terrorist suspect allegedly tortured
while in America’s extraordinary rendition programme. Lawyers for David Miliband,
the foreign secretary, said it was “a matter of great regret” that during “a
full and independent review of the case” they had uncovered 13 new documents
suggesting that the official account of Britain’s knowledge of what was
happening to Binyam Mohamed was inaccurate. The documents reveal as
false the claim by a senior MI5 manager, known as witness A, in the High
Court last year that the last information MI5 received from the CIA about
Mohamed’s whereabouts was in February 2003. One letter says: “A sentence in
the open witness statement of witness A, which stated the last interview
report received by the Security Service was in February 2003, is incorrect.” Mohamed, 31, has always
claimed British intelligence officers were complicit in his treatment. His
lawyers have forced the government to hand over 42 secret documents that
support his assertions, including that MI5 officers interviewed him in
Pakistan. The government solicitors’
letter to Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones continues: “Their
disclosure at this stage is a matter of great regret. We offer our apologies
on behalf of all concerned.” Mohamed, a British resident,
flew home to Britain in February after release from Guantanamo Bay prison. He
had been detained in the US extraordinary rendition programme since being
arrested in Pakistan in 2002 on a false British passport. He is considering legal
action against the UK government over his claims that he was tortured in
Pakistan with the complicity of MI5. He spent time in “dark prisons” in
Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo in
September 2004. MI5 told the High Court last
year that after February 2003 it had no knowledge of Mohamed’s whereabouts.
At that time Mohamed was in a prison in Morocco, where he says his testicles
were cut with a razor as part of a long and humiliating series of torture
sessions. The new documents were
unearthed after detailed questioning of MI5 by the Intelligence and Security
Committee. Two documents were initially discovered, prompting government
lawyers to order further searches of MI5 and MI6 files. Last month the
attorney-general, Baroness Scotland, ordered an investigation by Scotland
Yard into allegations that MI5 officers had tortured Mohamed. External link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6122797.ece |