The Clipboard: British judge's anger at US torture

From an article¹:

A high court judge yesterday delivered a stinging attack on America, saying its idea of what constituted torture was out of step with that of "most civilised nations".

The criticism, directed at the Bush administration's approach to human rights, was made by Mr Justice Collins during a hearing over the refusal by ministers to request the release of three British residents held at Guantanamo Bay.

The judge said: "America's idea of what is torture is not the same as ours and does not appear to coincide with that of most civilised nations". He made his comments, he said, after learning of the UN report that said Guantanamo should be shut down without delay because torture was still being carried out there. (link)

That pretty much says it all. The UN recently called Guantanamo a torture camp and called for it to be shut down. Hear, hear. This has brought our country shame and disgrace.

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Complete text of the article, Judge's anger at US torture, by Richard Norton-Taylor and Suzanne Goldenberg

A high court judge yesterday delivered a stinging attack on America, saying its idea of what constituted torture was out of step with that of "most civilised nations".

The criticism, directed at the Bush administration's approach to human rights, was made by Mr Justice Collins during a hearing over the refusal by ministers to request the release of three British residents held at Guantanamo Bay.

The judge said: "America's idea of what is torture is not the same as ours and does not appear to coincide with that of most civilised nations". He made his comments, he said, after learning of the UN report that said Guantanamo should be shut down without delay because torture was still being carried out there.

The report, by five inspectors for the UN human rights commissioner, refers to shackling, hooding and forcing detainees to wear earphones and goggles. In particular, it refers to interrogation techniques and excessive violence used to forcefeed prisoners on hunger strike. Based on interviews with detainees' lawyers, former inmates, and written exchanges with US officials, it calls on the US to put the 490 inmates on trial, or release them.

The UN inspectors refused a US offer to tour Guantanamo after they were barred from visiting the prisoners. The 40-page document is the UN's first to address Guantanamo. The White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, dismissed its findings as a "rehash of old allegations. The detainees are being treated humanely," he said. "Remember these are terrorists."

The Bush administration has defined torture in narrow terms, referring to intense physical injury and organ failure. Controversy about the definition goes to the heart of allegations that the US has secretly used Britain to transport detainees to interrogation centres in countries where torture is practised, in the practice known as "extraordinary rendition".

Ministers have relied on US assurances which senior British lawyers have repeatedly questioned. In a law lords judgment last year, Lord Bingham referred to US techniques, including sensory deprivation and inducing a perception of suffocation, which, he said, would be defined as torture in British law.

Mr Justice Collins said three British residents in Guantanamo could now seek a court order requiring the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, to petition for their release. The case, brought by Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil el-Banna, and Omar Deghayes, and members of their families living in Britain, could be heard as early as next week.

Responding to the judge's remarks about the US definition of torture, Rabinder Singh QC, counsel for the three detainees and their families, said Britain and the European court of human rights would "undoubtedly condemn" many of the practices at Guantanamo. Mr Rawi is an Iraqi who has lived in the UK since 1985. His business partner, Mr Banna, is a Jordanian refugee, and Omar Deghayes is Libyan refugee. All three were taken to Guantanamo via Afghanistan.

Mr Rawi and Mr Banna were seized by CIA agents in Gambia in 2002. Chris Mullin, a former Foreign Office minister for Africa, says British agents helped the Americans seize the two men. They are alleged to have had contacts with al-Qaida because of a connection with the radical cleric Abu Qatada. Mr Singh said Mr Rawi's contacts with Abu Qatada were "expressly approved and encouraged by British intelligence". Government lawyers revealed yesterday that Mr Straw was "reconsidering" Mr Rawi's case but told the court it involved "sensitive evidence".

Mr Deghayes was detained in Pakistan. His name was said to be on the FBI's "most wanted" list yet the photograph in his file was of a different person, the court heard. Mr Deghayes was almost blind in one eye through the use of pepper spray and gouging during his detention, yet is still being constantly subjected to bright light.

The judge made clear that in his ruling he had taken into account the principle of respect for family life enshrined in the European human rights convention. There are eight British residents in Guantanamo. All nine British subjects detained there have been released.

reference=http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1711833,00.html?gusrc=rss