UK releases 'US torture evidence'

[N.O.R.F]

UK releases 'US torture evidence'

 

A British court has ordered the government to disclose classified information about the treatment of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who said he was tortured in US custody.

 

The information, contained in seven paragraphs redacted from a high court judgement, described the treatment of Binyam Mohamed by US authorities as "at the very least cruel, inhuman and degrading".

 

It was released after judges at an appeals court on Wednesday rejected the UK government's claim that disclosing the information would damage intelligence co-operation with US agencies.

 

Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in April 2002, after which he says he was flown by the CIA to Morocco and held for 18 months, where he says he was tortured. Morocco has denied holding him.

 

'Significant mental stress'

 

The redacted paragraphs summarise an American account of Mohamed's treatment by US authorities before he was interviewed by a British intelligence agent in May 2002.

 

The redacted paragraphs summarise an American account of Mohamed's treatment by US authorities before he was interviewed by a British intelligence agent in May 2002.

 

They report that Mohamed had been "intentionally subjected to continuous sleep deprivation" and "threats and inducements were made to him".

 

"His fears of being removed from United States custody and 'disappearing' were played upon," the information says.

 

The interviews by US authorities, in which he was sometimes shackled, caused him "significant mental stress and suffering", it said.

 

The text said that the treatment would have been "in breach of the undertakings given by the United Kingdom in 1972" if administered in Britain.

 

"Although it is not necessary for us to categorise the treatment reported, it could readily be contended to be at the very least cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities," it said.

 

David Miliband, Britain's foreign secretary, had argued that full disclosure of the information could lead to reduced intelligence-sharing with the US and

prejudice Britain's national security.

 

But in a statement following the ruling, Miliband said there would not be an appeal.

 

'Resounding victory'

 

Lawyers for Mohamed said the decision was a "resounding victory for freedom of speech".

 

They had long claimed the secret paragraphs prove he was mistreated and that the US and British governments were complicit in his abuse.

 

Mohamed, 31, says he was tortured in Pakistan, and that interrogators in Morocco

beat him, deprived him of sleep and sliced his genitals with a scalpel.

 

He was later transferred to the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba before being released in February last year.

 

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the rights group Liberty, said a "full and broad" public inquiry into British complicity in torture is needed in light of the information contained in the newly released paragraphs.

 

"It shows the British authorities knew far more than they let on about Binyam Mohamed and how he was tortured in US custody," she said.

 

"It is clear from these seven paragraphs that our authorities knew very well what was happening to Mr Mohamed. Our hands are very dirty indeed."

 

MI5 has said it did not know Mohamed was being tortured, or held in Morocco.

AJE

[N.O.R.F]

US disappointed at UK Appeal Court torture ruling

 

The White House has expressed "deep disappointment" at an Appeal Court ruling to reveal information on the alleged torture of a UK resident.

 

Foreign Secretary David Miliband lost an Appeal Court bid on Wednesday to prevent the details being published.

 

Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 31, says UK authorities knew he was tortured at the behest of US authorities after his detention in Pakistan in 2002.

 

The ruling led to the publication of a summary of the torture of Mr Mohamed.

 

The information had been given to MI5 by the CIA - and suggested that British officials were aware of Mr Mohamed's ill-treatment.

 

Mr Miliband had repeatedly tried to stop its publication on the grounds that it could damage intelligence-sharing with America.

 

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is believed to be "understanding" about the UK government's position after talking with Mr Miliband, the BBC has learned.

 

But Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for President Barack Obama, said: "We're deeply disappointed with the court's judgment because we shared this information in confidence and with certain expectations.

 

"As we warned, the court's judgment will complicate the confidentiality of our intelligence-sharing relationship with the UK, and it will have to factor into our decision-making going forward."

 

The Federal Government is closed because of blizzard conditions and it is thought it will take some time for the American government to work out the implications of the lengthy judgement.

 

Vital paragraphs

 

Denis Blair, the US Director of National Intelligence, said: "The decision by a United Kingdom court to release classified information provided by the United States is not helpful, and we deeply regret it.

 

"The United States and the United Kingdom have a long history of close co-operation that relies on mutual respect for the handling of classified information."

 

Judges ruled that paragraphs which say Mr Mohamed's treatment was "cruel, inhuman and degrading" should be released.

 

Mr Miliband said the ruling was "not evidence that the system is broken".

 

The judgement was delivered by the three most senior Court of Appeal judges in England and Wales.

 

The key details are contained in a seven-paragraph summary of what the CIA told British intelligence officials about Mr Mohamed's treatment in 2002. These paragraphs have now been published on the Foreign Office website.

 

The paragraphs concern a period in which Mr Mohamed was being held by Pakistani interrogators at the behest of the US, who suspected him of having received firearms and explosives training from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

 

'Defend a principle'

 

They say Mr Mohamed was intentionally subjected to continuous sleep deprivation, as well as threats and inducements, including playing on his fears that he would be passed on to another country.

 

London learnt that the stress brought on by these deliberate tactics was increased by him being shackled during his interviews and that Mr Mohamed was eventually placed on suicide watch.

 

Following the ruling, Mr Miliband gave a statement to the House of Commons, saying he accepted the court's decision, but that the government's objection had never been about the seven paragraphs specifically.

 

"We have fought this case and brought the appeal to defend a principle we believe is fundamental to our national security - that intelligence shared with us will be protected by us," the foreign secretary said.

 

Mr Mohamed, an Ethiopian granted refugee status in Britain in 1994, was initially arrested in Pakistan in 2002 over a visa irregularity and was handed over to US officials. He was secretly flown to Morocco in 2002.

 

There, he says, he was tortured while interrogators asked him about his life in London - questions, he says, that could have come only from British intelligence officers.

 

Mr Mohamed was sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, run by the US in Cuba, in 2004. He was held there until his release without charge in February 2009, when he returned to the UK.

 

BBC