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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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February 4th,
2009 - Ministers Face Torture Pressure |
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Ministers Face Torture
Pressure From BBC News February 4, 2009 UK ministers must answer allegations
that Britain was complicit in torture, a senior Conservative MP has said. David Davis said a High
Court ruling on Wednesday alleged that Binyam Mohamed, a UK resident held in
the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba, had been tortured. The judges also said the US
threatened to withdraw intelligence help from the UK if details were
released. But Foreign Secretary David
Miliband said there had been no such threat and the UK "never condoned
torture". "There has been no
threat from the US to break off intelligence co-operation," he said. He stressed that the US-UK
security relationship was built on trust and that depended on intelligence
remaining confidential. The judges said the UK's
attorney general has begun a criminal investigation into possible torture
against Mr Mohamed. Investigation Lord Justice Thomas and Mr
Justice Lloyd Jones said the attorney general would be investigating the
issues of "torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment". The judges said they wanted
the full details of the alleged torture to be published in the interests of
safeguarding the rule of law, free speech and democratic accountability. But they had been persuaded
that it was not in the public interest to publish those details as the US
government could then "inflict on the citizens of the United Kingdom a
very considerable increase in the dangers they face at a time when a serious
terrorist threat still pertains". These details were a summary
of a report by the US government to the British security services about the
detention and treatment of the individual concerned which amounted to 25
lines. No 10 said it was not aware
of any threat from the US government to withdraw intelligence co-operation
with Britain if details of the case were revealed. Explanation sought The allegations relate to
Binyam Mohamed, a British resident held in Guantanamo, who alleges he was
tortured in Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan between 2002 and 2004. Mr Davis said a High Court
ruling, which pointed to complicity by the UK and US authorities in his
torture, was prevented from being published after the US put pressure on the
UK. The former shadow home
secretary raised the case in a point of order in the House of Commons. He said Mr Miliband should
make a statement to MPs about the issue as soon as possible to "explain
what the devil is going on". He said the UK government
should make it "plain" that it did not support torture in any
circumstances. Mr Mohamed, 30, has been
held in Guantanamo for four years after the US authorities accused him of
conspiring with Al-Qaeda leaders to plan a series of terrorist attacks. But war crimes charges
against him were dropped in October. Mr Mohamed - an Ethiopian
national who moved to the UK in 1994 - says documents support the fact that
the evidence against him was obtained through torture. Last August, Lord Justice
Thomas said evidence relating to the case should be disclosed, saying it was
"essential". However, the British
government argued the disclosure of certain material would cause
"significant damage to national security". ‘None of their business’ Mr Davis said it appeared
the Bush administration had "threatened" the UK government about the
repercussions should details of the case be made public. "Frankly it is none of
their business what our courts do," he said, adding this was "plain
fact" not merely an allegation. "They should not seek
in any circumstances to put pressure on British courts. That's completely
beyond the rule of law." He said Mr Miliband must
explain why this had happened and whether the new Obama administration
supported its predecessor's stance on the issue. "While he is at it, he
[the foreign secretary] should explain what degree of complicity we have in
this," he told the BBC. Mr Davis said the government
had taken a "highly principled public stand" against torture but
must "come clean" about whether there were cases where British
agencies ever knew about instances of torture by others. The BBC's Jonathan Beale in
Washington said a former Bush administration official who dealt with
Guantanamo Bay confirmed that US intelligence agencies did tell the UK that
they opposed the release of certain US intelligence without their consent. The official added that this
was standard practice, just as MI6 and MI5 would oppose the release of UK
intelligence in the US without their consent. Civil liberties campaigners
described the judges' remarks on the case as "astounding". Shami Chakrabarti, director
of Liberty, said the Bush administration had tried "to bully" the
British courts and President Obama must make it clear he would not do the
same. And Lib Dem leader Nick
Clegg said all the documents in the case must be published immediately. "There is no other
terms for what the US intelligence services are doing than blackmail,"
he said. "It is simply
incredible that the US government would have halted intelligence co-operation
with the UK if this information had been made public." External link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7870049.stm |