Binyam Mohamed

NEW! PRESS RELEASE From AMNESTY
Friday, August 29, 2008

U.K. Government Must Provide Information About Rendition, Disappearance and Torture, Urges Amnesty International

[Washington, DC]--Amnesty International today called on the government of the U.K. to give the lawyers for Binyam Mohamed, a former U.K. resident imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, information which it holds and which might help him to show that he has been a victim of torture and other ill-treatment in the U.S.-led program of renditions and secret detention.

"Providing this information would be a first step towards accountability for the U.K.'s involvement in the U.S. program of rendition and secret detention, as well as in the torture and other ill-treatment of terrorist suspects," said Halya Gowan, a spokesperson on Europe at Amnesty International.

Binyam Mohamed was arrested at Karachi airport in April 2002 and transferred to U.S. custody three months later. In July 2002, he was transferred on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-registered plane to Morocco, where he was held for about 18 months. There, Binyam Mohamed reports he was tortured, including having his penis cut by a razor blade.

He was allegedly subjected to further torture after his further rendition to the "dark prison" in Kabul, Afghanistan, in January 2004. After five months, he was transferred to the U.S. airbase in Bagram, and suffered further alleged ill-treatment there. Binyam was transferred in mid-September 2004 to Guantanamo where he has remained ever since.

"Statements that Binyam Mohamed made in the course of his unlawful detention will form the basis of charges against him if he is tried before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay - a trial which would be unfair, and could involve charges which could be punishable by death. Any information the U.K. authorities have which relates to violations of his human rights or could affect Binyam Mohamed's defense should be disclosed to his lawyers without any further delay," said Gowan.

Following last week's ruling by the High Court of England and Wales, that the United Kingdom has a duty to disclose this information to lawyers for Binyam Mohamed, today the High Court postponed its decision on an application made by the U.K. Foreign Secretary to be allowed to withhold this information.The Foreign Secretary claimed that its disclosure would damage the U.K.'s intelligence-sharing arrangements with the United States, and thus threaten the United Kingdom's national security. The
Foreign Secretary has been given another week to provide the court with a fuller explanation for continuing to withhold this information.

Binyam Mohamed's lawyers need the information now, before a decision is taken about whether he should be tried by a military commission in the United States. It is essential to their claim that the information on which the charges against him are based was improperly obtained.

Recent revelations of secret detainee transfers through Diego Garcia, and around the Untied Kingdom’s involvement in the rendition and secret detention of U.K .residents Bisher al-Rawi and Jamil el-Banna, show that the United Kingdom can no longer hide its involvement in these human rights violations.

"Secrecy with the excuse of protecting diplomatic relations can no longer be used to justify the failure to investigate the involvement of U.K. agents in human rights violations," Gowan said.

Amnesty International calls on the U.K. authorities to immediately instigate a genuinely independent and impartial public inquiry into all allegations of U.K. involvement in the renditions program.

BACKGROUND

Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian national, claims that he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. The detainee claims that statements he made--which, as the High Court affirmed, will form the basis of evidence against him if he is tried by a military commission –were the products of his unlawful detention, torture and ill-treatment.

In August 2007, after a sustained campaign by human rights activists and lawyers in the United Kingdom, the U.K. government requested the release from Guantanamo Bay a number of former U.K. residents, including Binyam Mohamed. Although three men were returned in December 2007, the U.S. authorities refused the request for the release and return of Binyam Mohamed. The U.K. authorities say that they are continuing to request the release and return of Binyam Mohamed.

The U.K. government has disclosed the information that it holds about Binyam Mohamed to the U.S. authorities; and the U.S. authorities have given the U.K. a promise that this information will be given to Binyam Mohamed's military lawyer in the event that his case should be sent for trial before a military commission. But to date neither the United Kingdom nor the United States has disclosed that information--relevant to the rendition of Binyam Mohamed and his subsequent treatment in detention--to
his lawyers.

Amnesty International believes that the military commission procedures at Guantanamo Bay are fundamentally unfair, and has called for the military commission system to be abandoned, and for all those still held at Guantanamo Bay to be released or given a genuinely fair trial before federal civilian courts without delay.

For more information, please visit Amnesty International's website at www.amnestyusa.org or contact the AIUSA media office.
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NEW! Court To Rule on 'Torture' Evidence
29/08/2008

The High Court is due to announce whether it will order the Government to disclose 'secret' material which an al-Qaeda suspect says supports his case that evidence against him was obtained by torture.

Ethiopian national Binyam Mohamed, 30, who came to Britain in 1994 seeking asylum, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba for the past four years.

He is facing a US military trial for terrorism offences and possibly the death penalty if found guilty.

Mohamed, who worked as a janitor in London, alleges the evidence against him is based on confessions extracted by torture and ill-treatment - claims denied by American authorities.

On August 21 he won an important ruling from two judges in London in his legal battle to have intelligence information disclosed to the lawyers representing him in the Guantanamo Bay proceedings.

Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones concluded that the Foreign Secretary was "under a duty" to "disclose in confidence" to Mohamed's legal advisers certain information "which is not only necessary but essential for his defence".

But they did not make an order on August 21 for the material at the centre of the case to be provided because they still had to hear further representations relating to the Government's concerns about damage to national security if there was disclosure.

Since the ruling on August 21 the judges have heard further argument from both sides and will now give their decision on whether or not they will make a disclosure order.

Mohamed was charged in May and faces an imminent decision on the reference of those charges for trial before a US Military Commission.

One of the allegations against Mohamed, who converted to Islam, was that he was chosen by al-Qaeda because of his refugee status in the UK, to train for and participate in terrorist actions.

SOURCE: Press Association (Also go to cageprisoners dot com )
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Following item posted on Wed, Aug. 27, 2008
Guantánamo detainee's case back in UK court
BY JENNIFER QUINN
Lawyers for a Guantánamo Bay detainee appeared in a London court Wednesday to demand secret documents that could prove their client was tortured and stall his U.S. war crimes trial.

Judges have ordered the government to disclose documents pertaining to Binyam Mohamed's detention, but gave the Foreign Office a week to decide whether they would comply with the order or appeal it. The British government has argued that the release of the documents could compromise national security.

Wednesday's arguments centered on which documents should be released, to whom and whether they should be censored or released in full. There was also an issue about which of Mohamed's lawyers would be allowed to see them.

A decision is expected later this week.

Britain's High Court made the ruling Aug. 21 in the case of Mohamed, a 30-year-old former British resident who was captured in Pakistan in April 2002 and accused of conspiring with al Qaeda leaders to attack civilians. His lawyers say the British government is withholding information about his treatment in U.S. custody that is critical to his hope of receiving a fair trial.

The judges agreed, writing in their judgment that ``the information held by the foreign secretary is not merely necessary, but essential, if Binyam Mohamed is to have his case fairly considered.''

Mohamed claims he was transferred illegally from Pakistan to Morocco after his arrest and alleges he was tortured during his 18 months in detention. Neither the United States nor Britain has disclosed any information about his time in custody until he arrived at Guantánamo Bay in 2004.

His lawyers have argued any evidence the United States has for holding Mohamed came through ''medieval'' torture in Morocco.

According to Mohamed's account, filed in a U.S. Supreme Court affidavit, torturers sliced his penis with a scalpel and threatened to sever his private parts. Mohamed claims he was beaten, deprived of sleep and given mind-altering drugs.

The crux of Mohamed's High Court case was that the British government knew of his detention but failed to ensure he was treated fairly. The court sided with Mohamed's attorneys and ruled he had a right to any information Britain might have on his case.

The lawyers hope to prove Mohamed was detained and interrogated under conditions that constitute torture and would therefore not be admissible at his military war crimes trial in Guantánamo.

Prosecutors have prepared charges against Mohamed, but they must be approved by Susan Crawford, a U.S. Defense Department official who oversees the military commissions. The Pentagon said Crawford was still reviewing the charges and information provided by the defense.


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