High Court Protest - Mahmoud Abu Rideh

Next Friday, July 3rd, Mahmoud Abu Rideh, the Palestinian detainee, will be at the High Court on the Strand as part of his attempt to end his years of detention without charge in the UK by leaving this country. His wife and children recently left the UK, unable to survive living under Control Order any longer. But he needs travel documents in order to leave and is taking this issue to court.

He hopes to attend the hearing on Friday and we need to give our support.

So please join us in a protest: 9.15 - 10.00 am at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand.

His case has had much media coverage lately and the press are expected.

Please bring banners, placards, as many people as possible!

Organised by Peace & Justice in East London

CIA Crucified Captive In Abu Ghraib Prison

"The Central Intelligence Agency crucified a prisoner in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, according to a report published in The New Yorker magazine. “A forensic examiner found that he (the prisoner) had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs,” the magazine’s Jane Mayer writes in the magazine’s June 22nd issue. “Military pathologists classified the case a homicide.” The date of the murder was not given.

“No criminal charges have ever been brought against any C.I.A. officer involved in the torture program, despite the fact that at least three prisoners interrogated by agency personnel died as a result of mistreatment,” Mayer notes.

An earlier report, by John Hendren in The Los Angeles Times indicted other torture killings. And Human Rights First says nearly 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hendren reported that one Manadel Jamadi died “of blunt-force injuries” complicated by “compromised respiration” at Abu Ghraib prison “while he was with Navy SEALs and other special operations troops.” Another victim, Abdul Jaleel, died while gagged and shackled to a cell door with his hands over his head.” Yet another prisoner, Maj. Gen. Abid Mowhosh, former commander of Iraq’s air defenses, “died of asphyxiation due to smothering and chest compression” in Qaim, Iraq.

"There is no question that U.S. interrogations have resulted in deaths," says Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU. "High-ranking officials who knew about the torture and sat on their hands and those who created and endorsed these policies must be held accountable. America must stop putting its head in the sand and deal with the torture scandal." At least scores of detainees in U.S. custody have died and homicide is suspected. As far back as May, 2004, the Pentagon conceded at least 37 deaths of prisoners in its custody in Iraq and Afghanistan had prompted investigations.

Nathaniel Raymond, of Physicians for Human Rights, told The New Yorker, “We still don’t know how many detainees were in the black sites, or who they were. We don’t fully know the White House’s role, or the C.I.A.’s role. We need a full accounting, especially as it relates to health professionals.”

Recently released Justice memos, he noted, contain numerous references to CIA medical personnel participating in coercive interrogation sessions. “They were the designers, the legitimizers, and the implementers,” Raymond said. “This is arguably the single greatest medical-ethics scandal in American history. We need answers.”

The ACLU obtained its information from the Pentagon through a Freedom of Information suit. Documents received included 44 autopsies and death reports as well as a summary of autopsy reports of people seized in Iraq and Afghanistan. An ACLU statement noted, “This covers just a fraction of the total number of Iraqis and Afghanis who have died while in U.S. custody.” (Italics added).

Torture by the CIA has been facilitated by the Agency’s ability to hide prisoners in “black sites” kept secret from the Red Cross, to hold prisoners off the books, and to detain them for years without bringing charges or providing them with lawyers.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, denounced the Obama administration for considering “prevention detention,” The New Yorker’s Mayer wrote. Roth said this tactic “mimics the Bush Administration’s abusive approach.”

From all indications, CIA Director Panetta has no intention of bringing to justice CIA officials involved in the systematic torture of prisoners. Panetta told Mayer, “I’m going to give people the benefit of the doubt…If they do the job that they’re paid to do, I can’t ask for a hell of a lot more.”

Such sentiments differ markedly from those Panetta wrote in an article published last year in the January Washington Monthly: “We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don’t. There is no middle ground.”

One way to discern who really runs a country is to look to see which individuals, if any, are above the law. In the Obama administration, like its predecessors, they include the employees of the CIA. Crucifixions they execute in the Middle East differ from those reported in the New Testament in at least one important respect: Jesus Christ had a trial.

Sherwood Ross formerly reported for major dailies and wire services. To contact him or contribute to his Anti-War News Service: sherwoodr1@yahoo.com

Source: http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22941.htm

Bound, Blindfolded & Beaten – By Israeli Troops

Two Israeli officers have testified that troops in the West Bank beat, bound and blindfolded Palestinian civilians as young as 14. The damaging disclosures by two sergeants of the Kfir Brigade include descriptions of abuses they say they witnessed during a search-and-detain operation involving hundreds of troops in Hares village on 26 March. The testimonies have been seen by The Independent and are expected to add fuel to the controversy over recent remarks by Colonel Itai Virob, commander of Kfir Brigade, in which he said violence against detained Palestinians was justified in order to accomplish missions.

Both the soldiers, from the Harub battalion, highlighted the tight tying of the plastic hand restraints placed on detainees. "There are people who think you need to tighten the restraints all the way, until no drop of blood will pass from here to there," one soldier said. "It doesn't take much time until the hands turn blue. There were a lot of people that you know weren't feeling anything."

He said about 150 Palestinians, some as young as 14, were bound, blindfolded and detained at the village school during the operation, which lasted from 3am to 3pm. He was told it was aimed at preventing village youths throwing stones against nearby settler roads. It was clear many of the people detained had done nothing wrong, but they were held to gather intelligence, he said.

The worst beatings were in the bathrooms, he said. "The soldiers who took [detainees] to the toilet just exploded [over] them with beatings; cursed them with no reason. When they took one Arab to the toilet so that he could urinate, one of them gave him a slap that brought him to the ground. He had been handcuffed from behind with a nylon restraint and blindfolded. He wasn't insolent, he didn't do anything to get on anyone's nerves ... [it was] just because he's an Arab. He was something like 15 years old." The soldier said he saw a lot of soldiers "just knee [Palestinians] because it's boring, because you stand there 10 hours, you're not doing anything, so they beat people up."

A second soldier described a "fanatical atmosphere" during the search operations. "We would go into a house and turn the whole thing upside down," he recalled, but no weapons were found. "They confiscated kitchen knives."

The first soldier said involvement was widespread."There were a lot of reservists that participated, and they totally had a celebration on the Palestinians: curses, humiliation, pulling hair and ears, kicks, slaps. These things were the norm." He said the incidents in the toilet were the "extreme" and added that the beatings did not draw blood. They were "dry beatings, but it's still a beating".

The second soldier said some troops stole from houses they searched, even though the people were so poor it was hard for them to find anything to take.

Last month, Colonel Virob testified in a military court that hitting detained Palestinians could be justified. "Standing them against walls, pushing them, a blow that doesn't cause injury. Certainly, these are things that are commonly used in an attempt to accomplish the mission," he said. Despite a reprimand of Colonel Virob by the head of central command, General Shamni, and a disavowal by army chief of staff Lt General Gabi Ashkenazi, the remarks are seen by Breaking the Silence, an organisation that collects testimonies of soldiers, as proof that the alleged abuses in Hares cannot be dismissed as an isolated occurrence or low-level improvisations.

In Hares, Ihab Shamlawi, a university student, recalled watching as a high school pupil asked soldiers permission to go to the bathroom. "They put him on the floor, they kicked his legs and beat him," he said. Ten or 15 other soldiers were watching, Mr Shamlawi recalled. "They all laughed," he said.

The army spokesman's office yesterday said an investigation had been opened and added that, following Colonel Virob's previous remarks, General Shamni had distributed pamphlets to troops underscoring that "when someone is detained, stopped or held ... Israel Defence Force soldiers ... are absolutely and clearly forbidden to use any force or violence against them".

Source: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bound-blindfolded-and-beaten-ndash-by-israeli-troops-1700194.html

"Even Guantánamo Bay Is Better Than This.”

An investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has revealed that former detainees at the U.S. Bagram airbase in Afghanistan were beaten, deprived of sleep, and threatened with dogs.

The BBC’s conclusions are based on interviews with 27 former detainees who were held at Bagram between 2002 and 2006. None of these men were ever charged with a crime. Hundreds of detainees are still being held in U.S. custody at the Afghan prison without charge or trial.

Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, told us, "The BBC investigation provides further confirmation of the United States' mistreatment of prisoners at Bagram. These abuses are the direct consequence of decisions made at the highest levels of the U.S. government to avoid the Geneva Convention and forsake the rule of law. For too long, the unlawful detention and mistreatment of prisoners at Bagram has gone on outside the public eye. Hopefully, this investigation will help change that."

"When prisoners are in American custody and under American control, no matter the location, our values and commitment to the rule of law are at stake," he said, adding: "Torture and abuse at Bagram is further evidence that prisoner abuse in U.S. custody was systemic, not aberrational, and originated at the highest levels of government. We must learn the truth about what went wrong, hold the proper people accountable and make sure these failed policies are not continued or repeated."

In April, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records pertaining to the detention and treatment of prisoners held at Bagram, including the number of people currently detained, their names, citizenship, place of capture and length of detention. The ACLU is also seeking records pertaining to the process afforded those prisoners to challenge their detention and designation as "enemy combatants."

"The U.S. government's detention of hundreds of prisoners at Bagram has been shrouded in complete secrecy," said Melissa Goodman, an ACLU staff attorney. "The American people have a right to know what's happening at Bagram and whether prisoners have been tortured there."

Amnesty International said it was 'shocked' by the Bagram claims. It noted that a new detention center is currently under construction at the camp.

Another prominent human rights organization, the U.K.-based Reprieve, called on the British Government to take action concerning two Pakistanis who it says the U.K. helped render there from Iraq. “The legal black hole in Bagram underlines the British government’s moral black hole when it comes to rendering two Pakistani prisoners there in 2004,” said Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve. “These men were in British custody in Iraq, were turned over to the U.S., and have now been held for five years without any respect for their legal rights.”

In February 2009, British Defense Secretary John Hutton announced to the House of Commons that Britain had handed two anonymous Pakistani men over to the U.S., and they had subsequently been rendered to Afghanistan, where they were still being held. “We have been assured that are held in a humane, safe and secure environment, meeting international standards consistent with cultural and religious norms,” Hutton said at the time.

“As we have said all along, beating people and holding them incommunicado is not humane, safe and secure,” Stafford Smith told us. “Britain has a moral duty to identify these men, so that we can reunite them with their legal rights, yet Mr. Hutton refuses to do this.”

No prisoner in Bagram has been allowed to see a lawyer, or challenge his detention. According to the BBC, the U.S. justice department argues that because Afghanistan is an active combat zone it is not possible to conduct rigorous inquiries into individual cases and that it would divert precious military resources at a crucial time.

“These men were never in Afghanistan until the UK and the US took them there,” said Stafford Smith. “It is the height of hypocrisy to take someone to Bagram and then claim that it is too dangerous to let them see a lawyer. Even Guantánamo Bay is better than this.”

The Pentagon has denied the BBC’s charges of harsh treatment and insisted that all inmates in the facility are treated humanely. The Bagram Airbase built by the Soviet military in the 1980s. The approximately 600 people held there are classified as "unlawful enemy combatants.' None was charged with any offence or put on trial -- some even received apologies when they were released.

Many allegations of ill-treatment appear repeatedly in the BBC interviews: physical abuse, the use of stress positions, excessive heat or cold, unbearably loud noise, being forced to remove clothes in front of female soldiers.

In four cases detainees were threatened with death at gunpoint.

"They did things that you would not do against animals let alone to humans," said one inmate. "They poured cold water on you in winter and hot water in summer. They used dogs against us. They put a pistol or a gun to your head and threatened you with death," he said. "They put some kind of medicine in the juice or water to make you sleepless and then they would interrogate you."

The BBC said its findings were shown to the Pentagon. Lt Col Mark Wright, a spokesman for the US Secretary of Defense, insisted that conditions at Bagram "meet international standards for care and custody". He said the US Defense Department has a policy of treating detainees humanely.

But he acknowledged that "There have been well-documented instances where that policy was not followed, and service members have been held accountable for their actions in those cases."

Since coming to office, US President Barack Obama has banned the use of torture and ordered a review of policy on detainees, which is expected to report next month. But unlike its detainees at the US naval facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the prisoners at Bagram have no access to lawyers and they cannot challenge their detention.

Source: http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22925.htm

Mohammed Atif Siddique Isn't A Terrorist

Please support Mohammed Atif Siddique in court Tue 30/Wed 1 July, Edinburgh

Mohammed Atif Siddique's appeal against his conviction for "terrorism" will be heard in Edinburgh High Court on Tuesday 30th June. The Siddique family deserve to see a court packed with friends and supporters. Please come along and show your support.

Mohammed Atif Siddique was convicted last September of "terrorism" offences connected to his use of the internet. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. The appeal is on the basis of misdirection, unbalanced charge, reasonable excuse and excessive sentence. The hearing is expected to take up to eight days

Atif's "terrorism" conviction for actions that had harmed no one shocked many people in Scotland. Newspaper headlnes said "Guilty.. but is Siddique really a terrorist?"

Mohammed Atif Siddique's lawyer, Aamer Anwar was accused of contempt of court for describing the trial as "unfair." Aamer was cleared of the contempt charge last year in a judgement that made Scottish and European legal history. Atif's appeal is likely to be a key moment in the history of Britain's controversial terrorism laws.

The Siddique family has had a terrible time. Atif was stopped at Glasgow airport in April 2006 as he tried to board a plane to Pakistan. He was prevented from flying and his laptop was seized by police, but he wasn't arrested. Eight days later, armed police broke down the door of the Siddique family home in Alva, Clackmananshire. Atif, who was just 20 years old, was arrested. Atif's brother and two uncles were arrested later in the month and held in police cells for lengthy periods before being released without charge. It's time, finally, for justice to be done.

How You Can show your support.

Come along to the High Court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh from 9.15am Tuesday 30 June and Wednesday 1 July (the case will start at 10am). Support is welcome both inside and outside the court throughout the course of the appeal. But Mohammed Atif Siddique's legal team will be presenting their arguments during the first two days of the appeal so support would be particularly appreciated on Tuesday and Wednesday.

If you can take time from work - especially on Tuesday morning - please do. And please come into the court. If you can only spare half an hour or a quarter of an hour, please come along and join supporters outside the court - preferably before 9.45am.

Please show courtesy and respect to the court and court officials.

More infomation: Richard 07936432519

Torture Claims Against British Secret Agents Go To Inquiry

A parliamentary inquiry into allegations of British collusion in torture is set to investigate whether counter-terrorism chiefs ordered the repeated torture and rendition of a former British resident.

Speaking for the first time about his ordeal, Farid Hilali told the Guardian that during his detention in the United Arab Emirates a British secret service agent turned up at the prison where he was being abused and interrogated him, knowing that he had been tortured. Hilali says he was then rendered to Morocco, where he was tortured for a further 22 days.

Hilali says that throughout this he was questioned extensively about alleged extremists living in the UK, and about surveillance photographs that had been taken in London. He says he believes his torturers were supplied the pictures by Britain.

Hilali's detention took place in 1999, and if the allegations prove true it would make him the first known victim of Britain's alleged complicity in torture, indicating that the practice started before the 9/11 attacks that led to George Bush declaring a "war on terror".

Hilali, now aged 40, was born in Morocco and had been living in London for a decade when he travelled to the UAE. He says that after being detained he was repeatedly beaten on the soles of his feet, given electric shocks while blindfolded, and handcuffed, kicked and beaten.

The Guardian has obtained some corroboration of Hilali's account, including details from the former Guantánamo detainee Moazzam Begg. Begg says that in the summer of 1999 an MI5 officer interviewed him about Hilali. Begg says the agent, whom he can identify, knew Hilali was being held in the UAE and told him that he would not be returning to Britain. Begg further alleges the MI5 agent, who called himself Andrew, ignored allegations that Hilali was being tortured.

Under the 1988 criminal justice act, those who order or collude in torture can be jailed for life. They have a defence if they can show they had lawful authority.

Presented with Hilali's claims, a member of the foreign affairs select committee, which is investigating allegations of British involvement in torture, said his allegations must be investigated.

Paul Keetch MP, a Liberal Democrat member of the committee, said: "We should invite him to give us the evidence he has. We need to be proactive about investigating what has happened in the past." The Labour MP Mike Gapes, chair of the committee, said: "If somebody wishes to send information to us as a committee, we would give it proper consideration."

Hilali's lawyers are writing to the committee and to Scotland Yard. The attorney general has asked the police to investigate allegations of British security service involvement or collusion in torture. Hilali says he will testify before any investigation and still remembers the face of the man he says is a British agent whom he begged for help. "If I'm given a photograph I would recognise him, because I can never forget that face. I am prepared to give evidence to the police, and to parliament."

The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture called for a special UN inquiry. A foundation spokeswoman, Sonya Sceats, said: "The [British] government insists that it does not condone torture, but where there are credible allegations of complicity by its intelligence officers these must be investigated not only by our courts but also by an international body. It is high time that the UK allowed the UN's torture committee to scrutinise cases of this sort."

There is further partial corroboration as Hilali managed to hold on to a UAE document recording his detention that states he is banned from contact with the outside world. He has a copy of the plane ticket transferring him from the UAE to Morocco on 14 October 1999. There was no return flight booked and Hilali says this amounts to a rendering.

Hilali was eventually returned to Britain and made a claim for asylum in 2003 that included his allegations that Britain ordered his torture. He says he was arrested for terrorism soon afterwards but was never questioned about any specific offence. The case against him was then dropped.

Spain managed to extradite him, claiming he was involved in a terrorist cell based there. In March 2009 a Spanish judge ordered his release from jail as the case against him seemed to founder – leaving him free to tell his full story for the first time.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/25/british-torture-inquiry-hilali-uae

Ex-Detainees Allege Bagram Abuse

Allegations of abuse and neglect at a US detention facility in Afghanistan have been uncovered by the BBC. Former detainees have alleged they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at the Bagram military base.

The BBC interviewed 27 former inmates of Bagram around the country over a period of two months.

The Pentagon has denied the charges and insisted that all inmates in the facility are treated humanely. All the men were asked the same questions and they were all interviewed in isolation.

Ill-Treatment

They were held at various times between 2002 and 2008. They were all accused of belonging to or helping al-Qaeda or the Taliban. None were charged with any offence or put on trial - some even received apologies when they were released. Just two of the detainees said they had been treated well.

Many allegations of ill-treatment appear repeatedly in the interviews: physical abuse, the use of stress positions, excessive heat or cold, unbearably loud noise, being forced to remove clothes in front of female soldiers.

In four cases detainees were threatened with death at gunpoint.

"They did things that you would not do against animals let alone to humans," said one inmate known as Dr Khandan. "They poured cold water on you in winter and hot water in summer. They used dogs against us. They put a pistol or a gun to your head and threatened you with death," he said. "They put some kind of medicine in the juice or water to make you sleepless and then they would interrogate you."

The findings were shown to the Pentagon.

Lt Col Mark Wright, a spokesman for the US Secretary of Defence, insisted that conditions at Bagram "meet international standards for care and custody". Col Wright said the US defence department has a policy of treating detainees humanely. "There have been well-documented instances where that policy was not followed, and service members have been held accountable for their actions in those cases," he said.

'Legal Black Hole'

Bagram has held thousands of people over the last eight years and a new detention centre is currently under construction at the camp.

Some of the inmates are forcibly taken there from abroad, especially Pakistanis and at least two Britons.

Since coming to office US President Barack Obama has banned the use of torture and ordered a review of policy on detainees, which is expected to report next month. But unlike its detainees at the US naval facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the prisoners at Bagram have no access to lawyers and they cannot challenge their detention.

The inmates at Bagram are being kept in "a legal black-hole, without access to lawyers or courts", according to Tina Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network, a legal support group representing four detainees. She is pursuing legal action that, if successful, would grant detainees at Bagram the same rights as those still being held at Guantanamo Bay.

But the Obama administration is trying to block the move. Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled that detainees at Guantanamo should be given legal rights.

Speaking on the presidential campaign trail, Barack Obama applauded the ruling: "The court's decision is a rejection of the Bush administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo. "This is an important step toward re-establishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law, and rejecting a false choice between fighting terrorism and respecting habeas corpus."

Ms Foster accuses the new administration of abandoning that position and "using the same arguments as the Bush White House".

In its legal submissions, the US justice department argues that because Afghanistan is an active combat zone it is not possible to conduct rigorous inquiries into individual cases and that it would divert precious military resources at a crucial time. They also argue that granting legal rights to detainees could harm Mr Obama's "ability to succeed in armed conflict and to protect United States' forces" by limiting his powers to conduct military operations.

A US federal appeals court judge is expected to rule soon.

These revelations come at a time when Mr Obama is trying to re-set Washington's relationship with the Muslim world and trying harder than ever to win the war in Afghanistan. It is a controversy that threatens to damage the image of the new administration in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8116046.stm

CIA Covering Up Bush-Era Torture

The CIA postponed the scheduled release on Friday of a highly anticipated report that could provide hard evidence of how agency tactics like waterboarding during the Bush years crossed the line into torture.

The report – dubbed the "Holy Grail" – is believed to implicate Bush-era officials in the authorization of torture and concludes that abusive tactics did not prevent planned terrorist plots. Leaked versions of the report show that even the CIA itself called into question the morality, legality and effectiveness of enhanced interrogation techniques.

The CIA is doing everything it can to thwart the release of critical information contained in the report. It made public last month a heavily redacted version of the document only after sustained efforts by the ACLU to get the information out in the open.

And now the agency is aggressively lobbying the Obama administration to keep the rest of the report secret. Those on the side of human rights need to counter the CIA's efforts to conceal the truth about failed Bush-era torture tactics with forceful steps of our own.

The CIA has pushed back the release of the report by one week to complete its review. We need to make sure that between now and Friday the administration doesn't succumb to pressure from the CIA to keep this report secret.

That's why we're asking you today to join our call-in week: www.amnestyusa.org/war-on-terror/presidential-call-in-week/page.do?id=1011685&ICID=T0906A01&tr=y&auid=5002076 Activists nationwide will place calls to the White House throughout the week to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on June 26th. We are calling on President Obama to demonstrate his commitment to accountability by ensuring the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into torture and other human rights violations in the "war on terror."

Decision makers know that constituents only make calls on issues that really matter to them. So when they hear from hundreds or thousands of concerned individuals on an issue, it makes it a priority on their agendas.

We've made significant headway over the past several months in our fight for accountability and we're sure that the release of this report will be a key step in holding to account those responsible for Bush-era torture.

Source: www.amnestyusa.org

Abbas To Free All Hamas Prisoners Ahead Of Unity Talks

In a goodwill gesture to his political rivals Hamas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered his security forces to release all prisoners belonging to the Islamist organization before the renewal of inter-factional talks.

Representatives of Abbas' Fatah faction, which has been the dominant player in Palestinian politics since the inception of the Palestine Liberation Organization, will meet with Hamas officials later this week in an attempt to hammer out an agreement on national unity.

The chairman of the Fatah faction in parliament, Azzam al-Ahmed, told a number of Palestinian media outlets that the Hamas prisoners slated for release include those who were arrested for alleged security violations.

Egyptian sources said Sunday that the reason Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Egypt over the weekend was to hear about Cairo's plan to advance a broader deal for a cease-fire with the Gaza Strip and a rapprochement between the Palestinian factions.

The sources added that following President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim world in Cairo two weeks ago, a decision was made in Cairo to step up pressure on the Palestinians so they would understand that without domestic reconciliation, there can be no progress in the peace process.

Barak told reporters in Cairo on Sunday meeting Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak that multilateral regional talks would be better for Israel than bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians toward a peace accord. Israel is the "only one that can give, the Palestinians are the underdog and the talks are asymmetrical," Barak said.

But in regional talks, the defense minister stressed, it becomes clear that Israel is the isolated party. He said topics could include the struggle against radical Islamic terrorism and economic projects. "The Arab side has much to give in the form of confidence building measures and steps toward normalization," he said.

Barak also said that a recent policy speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissed by Egypt as flawed, was a major step forward.

In his first official policy address last week, Netanyahu endorsed - with
tough conditions - the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state. Cairo, however, has said the proposal falls short of the Palestinian state Arabs seek.

"[Netanyahu] made it clear that the end result, the goal of the whole
process is to have a situation where the two peoples, Palestinian and Israeli, are living side by side in two states in good neighborliness, peace and security," Barak told reporters. "It is a really unique opportunity for the peace process because the common interest is so apparent regarding the struggle against hegemonic Iran, against radical terrorism, against proliferation of nuclear weapons," he said.

Barak described Netanyahu's comments on a Palestinian state as a "major step forward" by Israel in helping advance peace.

Source: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094749.html

Mohammed El Gharani Update

We wanted to give you an update on how Reprieve’s client, Mohammed El Gharani, is faring after his first few days out of Guantánamo Bay . Mohammed returned to Chad last Friday after seven years of being held there.

Reprieve lawyer Ahmed Ghappour and investigator Chris Chang are currently in Chad visiting Mohammed. Ahmed sent us the picture below, while Chris wrote to us yesterday with this news:
“We just got back from visiting Mohammed - he is looking well in full Chadian attire. He is still being held at the Ministry of the Interior, awaiting sign-off on his release and we met with him at the Police Headquarters. His Uncle Hamid was with us and it was very moving to see them reunited.”

“Mohamed said he has been treated okay and that he has been seen by a doctor. He is being taken on a tour of the town this evening and he has asked that Ahmed and I come with him, and that he spend the rest of the evening with us.”

Although we are delighted that Mohammed has been released from Guantánamo, we are concerned that he is still being held in police custody in Chad . We are doing everything we can to ensure he is released as soon as possible and will of course keep you updated on any further developments.

Successes such as Mohammed’s release would not be possible without your support – thank you. Please continue to help us achieve freedom for prisoners denied justice around the world by making a donation at http://www.reprieve.org.uk/.

More on Mohammed’s Case

Mohammed was wrongfully imprisoned in Guantánamo for seven years, arrested in 2001 at the age of only 14, while attending a mosque in Pakistan .

Mohammed was held at the notorious Bagram Air Force Base, and subjected to a range of abuses, including beatings and racist insults. He was then taken to Guantanamo Bay where the abuse continued, as verified by a 2008 FBI report.

Amongst other abuse, Mohammed was kept tightly shackled to the ground in a hunched position for hours, forcing him to urinate on himself. He was moved from cell to cell every few hours to prevent him from sleeping. He was subjected to repeated physical assaults. He was kept in freezing conditions, under prolonged strobe lights and was blasted with loud music for hours at a time. The entire time, racist slurs continued.

In January 2009 US Federal Judge Richard Leon reviewed the evidence against Mohammed and ordered his release, finding that he is not and had never been an enemy combatant.

Six months after President Obama’s pledge to close Guantánamo within a year, Mohammed El Gharani is only the seventh prisoner to be released on the new President’s watch. The first was Binyam Mohamed, another of Reprieve’s clients.

For further information about our work or to make a donation visit http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

Refugee Week at the BFI: Films By Libyan Exile Mohamed Maklouf

On Saturday, I was honoured to be invited along as a guest speaker at an event entitled, “Exile: Dreams and Nightmares” at the BFI (British Film Institute), part of an impressive week-long programme to mark Refugee Week. Saturday’s event featured four powerful documentaries by Mohamed Maklouf, a film-maker, journalist and Libyan exile, including “Home In Exile” (22 mins, 2007), which poignantly explores the experiences — and sense of loss — of Libyan exiles in the US and Germany, “Who’s Afraid of the Censor?” (11 mins, 2008) which takes an unflinching look at the ways in which the Egyptian regime stifles freedom of expression in the world of Egyptian independent cinema (2008, 11min), and “The Cage” (13 mins, 2005), a wonderfully expressionistic piece exploring the personal impact of exile. The latter is an independently produced film, but the first two were made for al-Jazeera International.

“Home In Exile” is available below (in two parts), and I urge you to watch it: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/06/21/refugee-week-at-the-bfi-films-by-libyan-exile-mohamed-maklouf/

After the first two films were screened, David Somerset of the BFI’s Education Department, who organized the event, asked Mohamed to talk about his work, and also gave me an opportunity to talk about the experience of Libyan refugees (and refugees from other dictatorial regimes) who are regarded by the British government as “terror suspects,” but who, instead of being put on trial, are held on the basis of secret evidence that is not disclosed to them, and kept under virtual house arrest through the use of draconian control orders. These are topics that I have written about regularly, most recently in two articles, Death in Libya, betrayal in the West (for the Guardian), and Law Lords Condemn UK’s Use of Secret Evidence And Control Orders, and I’m delighted that, after coming across my work, Mohamed got in touch with me, and arranged with David for me to come along and talk.

The bitter irony — made all the more pointed after watching Mohamed’s films, which expose the brutality of the regimes in Libya and Egypt — is that these men, once friends to the West because of their opposition to Colonel Gaddafi, are now pawns in a deadly game that was initiated when Gaddafi, once the pariah and international terrorist, changed sides and became a friend to the West after the 9/11 attacks, and, overnight, they became terror suspects instead.

I hope to write more about Libya, and the West’s relationship to Colonel Gaddafi, in the near future, but in the meantime, for another sordid story (which involves the US, and its abominable use of “extraordinary rendition” and torture), see my recent world exclusive, New Revelations About The Torture Of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi.

- Andy Worthington is the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK). To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to my RSS feed, and see here for my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, published in March 2009.

Source: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/06/21/refugee-week-at-the-bfi-films-by-libyan-exile-mohamed-maklouf/

Letters Of Support For Imam Jamil

Summary

Imam Jamil has recently been taken out of a disciplinary and solitary confinement facility known as “the hole”.

Imam Jamil is normally held in solitary confinement however, while placed in “the hole”, he had even more restrictions than his usual housing facility. Due to the severe circumstances Imam Jamil has been forced to endure, we ask campaigners to write letters of support and encouragement to him.

Solitary confinement has been proven to cause suicidal urges, severe mental health deterioration and at times physiological ailments. This makes it imperative that Imam Jamil receives messages of solidarity.

Hopefully, the letters he receives will be a source of comfort and an expression of concern people have for him internationally.

Background

Imam Jamil Al-Amin had recently been placed in “the hole”; a disciplinary and solitary confinement facility, also referred to as Special Housing Unit (SHU), in which inmates face even further restrictions. Imam Jamil had already been suffering from continuous 23-hour solitary confinement, simply by virtue of being housed at USP Florence ADMAX, which has also been dubbed the “Guantanamo Bay of the mainland” and “a clean version of hell”. IHRC does not know the reason behind this presumed disciplinary action which placed him in a cell having no bed, no control over the lights, and no shower. Aside from being strip-searched, his Qur’an and all other personal belongings were seized.

Solitary confinement results in a severe deterioration of mental health and wellbeing of the prisoner. This method was first tested in 1820 at Cherry Hill prison, Philadelphia. The intention was to reform inmates with this program; however it caused suicidal tendencies and extreme mental instability, leading to the program being scrapped. Despite this damning conclusion, solitary confinement is still used widely in American prisons.

It is crucial that Imam Jamil receives as much support as possible considering the psychological effect of 23 hour solitary confinement. Writing letters of support, hope and encouragement is a productive way of helping Imam Jamil strive through this ordeal.

For further information, please visit the Imam Jamil IHRC campaign page (www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=3063).

Please follow the link to see previous action alert for Imam Jamil www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=4006.

Action required

Please write to:

Jamil Al-Amin
99974-555
USP Florence ADMAX
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 8500
Florence, CO 81226
USA

________
For more information, please contact the office on the numbers or email below

IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Please help IHRC by visiting www.ihrc.org.uk/catalog and making a donation or buying an item from our on-line store.

If you want to subscribe to the IHRC list please send an email to subscribe@ihrc.org

"And what reasons have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper." Holy Qur'an: Chapter 4, Verse 75

Join the Struggle for Justice. Join IHRC.

Islamic Human Rights Commission, PO Box 598, Wembley, HA9 7XH, United Kingdom

Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222 / Fax (+44) 20 8904 5183 / Email: info@ihrc.org / Web: www.ihrc.org

How UK's Torture Policy Was Traced Back Up Political Ladder

The existence of a secret policy drawn up for MI5 and MI6 interrogators – which led to the torture of suspects detained in the so-called war on terror – was concealed for years behind a cloak of official secrecy. Then, in testimony made public earlier this year, the cat was hurled from the bag by an MI5 officer giving evidence at the high court.

During cross-examination by lawyers representing Binyam Mohamed, the British resident who at that time was still in Guantánamo Bay, the officer identified as Witness B was repeatedly asked to explain why he did not take steps to find out what was happening to Mohamed while he was a prisoner in Pakistan.

Eventually, he told the court: "I was aware that the general question of interviewing detainees had been discussed at length by security service management, legal advisers and government, and I acted in this case, as in others, under the strong impression that it was considered to be proper and lawful."

Who in government knew of the existence of what was, in effect, a secret interrogation policy – and who signed off on it – remained unclear, however. A batch of classified US documents at the heart of a civil action brought on behalf of Mohamed, and which the government does not wish the public to see, are thought to disclose just how high up the political ladder the decisions that led to the formulation of the secret interrogation policy were taken.

There were some heavy hints: when the attorney general called in Scotland Yard to investigate possible criminal conduct on the part of Witness B and those who managed him, Mohamed's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith – who has seen the documents – was asked at what level the key decisions were taken.

"There are things I can't talk about because they're classified," Stafford Smith replied. "I can't say why I believe that this probably went all the way to No 10. I would be astounded if No 10 didn't know what was going on."

It is now clear, from a couple of paragraphs tucked away towards the end of a report published by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), the Westminster body that is supposed to oversee MI5 and MI6, that Tony Blair knew of the existence of the policy. In May 2004 he wrote a letter to the ISC that signalled key changes in the policy.

The same report also details the circumstances in which the interrogation policy was drawn up, and the text of the policy itself. In January 2002, after the war in Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban, an MI6 officer interrogating a detainee held by the US military reported back to London that the person had been mistreated, and asked for advice.

The following day London sent this advice, and copied it to every other MI5 and MI6 officer in the field: "Under the various Geneva conventions and protocols, all prisoners, however they are described, are entitled to the same levels of protection. You have commented on their treatment. It appears from your description that they may not be being treated in accordance with the appropriate standards. Given that they are not within our custody or control, the law does not require you to intervene to prevent this.

"That said, HMG's stated commitment to human rights makes it important that the Americans understand that we cannot be party to such ill treatment nor can we be seen to condone it. In no case should they be coerced during or in conjunction with an SIS [British intelligence] interview of them. If circumstances allow, you should consider drawing this to the attention of a suitably senior US official locally."

According to Philippe Sands QC, one of the world's leading authorities on international human rights law, that advice almost certainly failed to meet the UK's obligations under the UN convention against torture because it failed to ensure that British officers took steps to make certain that they were not complicit in torture.

The alleged complicity of MI5 is rooted in its links with some of the world's most notorious intelligence agencies – relationships that have been underpinned by the secret interrogation policy.

The manner in which Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), for example, routinely tortures those in its custody has been documented for decades. Sir Nigel Rodley, a former UN special rapporteur on torture, says that only "wilful ignorance" could prevent MI5 from knowing what would happen to individuals picked up by the ISI.

Nevertheless, MI5 repeatedly asked the ISI to detain and question British citizens in Pakistan whom they suspected of involvement in plots against the UK. MI5 officers, sometimes working with British police officers, would draw up a list of questions that they wanted the ISI to put to the detainee. They would make arrangements to conduct their own interrogation a week or two later. And there is reason to suspect that MI5 officers watched some ISI interrogations through a CCTV link.

So there would be no "custody or control", no question of MI5 officers being seen to condone torture, no personal engagement in "any activity". Nevertheless, there is clear and growing evidence that British citizens, and others, suffered the most appalling torture as a result.

A number of people have since alleged that they were tortured in Pakistan then questioned by British officers, in a way that forced them to conclude that MI5 had colluded in their mistreatment. In some cases the allegations were supported by evidence. Then similar allegations were made by a man tortured in Egypt, and another tortured in Bangladesh. The British government's repeated claims that it does not "participate in, solicit, encourage or condone" the use of torture began to look increasingly threadbare.

Finally, last March, Gordon Brown read a statement to the Commons in which he praised the intelligence and security agencies, but said the policy would be "consolidated and reviewed" by the ISC, that it would then be published, and that the intelligence services commissioner, a former appeal court judge, would monitor compliance and report annually to the prime minister.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/18/mi5-terrorism-torture-policy-blair

The Long Ordeal of Mohammed El-Gharani

The long ordeal of Mohammed El-Gharani, Guantánamo’s youngest prisoner, has finally come to an end. Reprieve, the legal action charity that represents him, reported yesterday that he has been sent back to Chad.

A Saudi resident and Chadian national, El-Gharani was just 14 years old when he was seized by Pakistani forces in a random raid on a mosque in Karachi, but was treated appallingly both by the Pakistanis who seized him, and by the U.S. military. I provided a detailed explanation of the abuse to which he was subjected in an article last year, “Guantánamo’s Forgotten Child,” which I condensed for an article in January, when I explained:

As with all but three of the 22 confirmed juveniles who have been held at Guantánamo, the U.S. authorities never treated him separately from the adult population, even though they are obliged, under the terms of the UN’s Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (on the involvement of children in armed conflict) to promote “the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation and social reintegration of children who are victims of armed conflict.”

Instead, El-Gharani was treated with appalling brutality. After being tortured in Pakistani custody, he was sold to U.S. forces, who flew him to a prison at Kandahar airport, where, he said, one particular soldier “would hold my penis, with scissors, and say he’d cut it off.” His treatment did not improve in Guantánamo. Subjected relentlessly to racist abuse, because of the color of his skin, he was hung from his wrists on numerous occasions, and was also subjected to a regime of “enhanced” techniques to prepare him for interrogation -- including prolonged sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation and the use of painful stress positions -- that clearly constitute torture. As a result of this and other abuse, including regular beatings by the guard force responsible for quelling even the most minor infractions of the rules, El-Gharani has become deeply depressed, and has tried to commit suicide on several occasions.

In January, over seven years after his initial capture, El-Gharani finally had his case reviewed in a U.S. court, following the Supreme Court’s ruling, in June 2008, that the prisoners had habeas corpus rights; in other words, the right to ask a court why they were being held. Judge Richard Leon, who had granted the habeas petitions of five Algerian prisoners in November, ruling that the government had failed to establish a case against them, was, if anything, even more dismissive of the claims against El-Gharani.

In his habeas petition, El-Gharani insisted, as he had throughout his detention, that he “traveled to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia at the age of 14 to escape discrimination against Chadians in that country, acquire computer and English skills, and make a better life for himself,” and that he “remained there until his arrest,” although the government claimed that he “arrived in Afghanistan at some unspecified time in 2001,” and was “part of or supporting Taliban or al-Qaeda forces,” for a variety of reasons, including claims that he received military training at an al-Qaeda-affiliated military training camp, fought against U.S. and allied forces at the battle of Tora Bora, and was a member of an al-Qaeda cell based in London.

Noting that the government’s supposed evidence against El-Gharani consisted of statements made by two other prisoners at Guantánamo, and that, moreover, these statements were “either exclusively, or jointly, the only evidence offered by the Government to substantiate the majority of their allegations,” Judge Leon stated that “the credibility and reliability of the detainees being relied upon by the Government has either been directly called into question by Government personnel or has been characterized by Government personnel as undermined,” and dismissed all the claims, reserving particular criticism for the claim that El-Gharani had been a member of a London-based al-Qaeda cell.

As I wrote in January,

This was, indeed, the most extraordinary allegation, as El-Gharani was just 11 years old at the time, and, as his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, explained in his book The Eight O’Clock Ferry to the Windward Side: Seeking Justice in Guantánamo Bay, “he must have been beamed over to the al-Qaeda meetings by the Starship Enterprise, since he never left Saudi Arabia by conventional means.”

Leon’s verdict was marginally less colorful, but no less devastating. “Putting aside the obvious and unanswered questions as to how a Saudi minor from a very poor family could have even become a member of a London-based cell,” he wrote, “the Government simply advances no corroborating evidence for these statements it believes to be reliable from a fellow detainee, the basis of whose knowledge is -- at best -- unknown.”

Despite this long-overdue court victory, El-Gharani’s suffering in Guantánamo did not come to an end. In April, he was finally allowed to call one of his relatives in Chad, but took the opportunity to call the Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera instead, telling them, as Reuters described it, that “he had been beaten with batons and teargassed by a group of six soldiers wearing protective gear and helmets after refusing to leave his cell.” He explained, “This treatment started about 20 days before Obama came into power, and since then I've been subjected to it almost every day,” and added, “Since Obama took charge he has not shown us that anything will change.”

El-Gharani’s return to Chad is not without its problems. He is currently being held by the security services, although they have stressed to his lawyers that it is just a formality and that they fully understand the horrors he has been through. More troubling is the fact that, although he has extended family in Chad who will take care of him, he cannot be reunited with his parents, because they live in Saudi Arabia. Representatives of Reprieve are expected to fly out to Chad this weekend, to help with his rehabilitation, but in the meantime El-Gharani himself has said only that he is, of course, delighted to be free, and is looking forward to undertaking an education, to make up for the lost years and lost opportunities while he was held in Guantánamo.

As Zachary Katznelson, Reprieve’s legal director, explained to me in a telephone conversation yesterday, “Reprieve is delighted that, after seven long years of unjust, illegal incarceration, Mohammed is finally out of Guantánamo Bay. A federal judge looked at his case in January, and found that there were never any valid grounds to hold him. He should have been released long ago, but we’re glad that justice has finally been served.”

By Andy Worthington. Andy Worthington is a British historian, and the author of 'The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison' (published by Pluto Press). Visit his website at: www.andyworthington.co.uk He can be reached at: andy@andyworthington.co.uk

Source: www.counterpunch.org/worthington06122009.html

Italy To Take Guantanamo Inmates

Italy has agreed to take three detainees from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, US President Barack Obama has said. He announced the agreement after talks on Monday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the White House.

The US wants other countries to accept Guantanamo detainees so the camp can be closed down, as Mr Obama has pledged. The European Union earlier endorsed a deal with Washington to transfer some inmates to Europe.

"I... thanked the prime minister for his support of our policy of closing Guantanamo," Mr Obama said after meeting Mr Berlusconi. "This is not just talk. Italy has agreed to accept three specific detainees." The identities of the prisoners have not been disclosed.

Guantanamo Bay officials have been attempting to fulfil Mr Obama's order to close the detention facility by early next year.

Last week, the US relocated nine detainees from the camp, transferring three to Saudi Arabia, four to Bermuda, one to Iraq and another to Chad.

Correspondents say officials are having difficulty finding governments willing to accept the remaining detainees, while at home they face stiff resistance to the idea of Guantanamo detainees being transferred to US soil.

Persecution Fears

Some 220 detainees are still being held at the US camp in Cuba, many without charge. About 50 fall into the category of detainees who are cleared for release without trial, but are deemed to be at risk of mistreatment if sent back to their home country.

The joint EU-US declaration on Monday said the decision whether to accept former Guantanamo inmates "remains the exclusive competence of the individual [EU] member states". "By supporting the US determination to shut down Guantanamo, the EU hopes to contribute to changing US policies and help the United States turn the page," the Czech presidency of the EU said.

The resettlement of Guantanamo detainees remains controversial because of the EU's Schengen open borders policy, meaning former prisoners would be free to travel inside most of the EU.

Under the agreement, the US "will share with the EU member states the available information relevant to ex-detainees received on the territory of the EU member states and Schengen Area".

The US also pledged to consider, on a case-by-case basis, contributing to the costs of resettlement.

Besides Italy, several EU member states have voiced willingness to accept ex-Guantanamo detainees, including France, the Irish Republic, Portugal and Spain. The UK has already taken in 14 former inmates. Several have also been accepted by Belgium, France, Sweden and Albania, which is not in the EU.

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau has agreed to accept 13 Muslim Uighurs from Guantanamo, who fear persecution if they return to China.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8102267.stm

HHUGS Day Trip Feedback

"Whoever relieves a believer of distress in this world, Allah will relieve him of some of the distress of the Day of Resurrection. Whoever makes things easy for those who are in difficulty, Allah will make things easy for him in this world and in the next. Whoever conceals (the faults of) a Muslim in this world, Allah will conceal him (his faults) in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah will help the slave so long as the slave helps his brother." [Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 1/71, hadith no. 204.]

Hhugs would firstly like to say jazakamullah khairun to all those who donated generously, volunteered and participated in the trip. MashAllah by the Blessings and Mercy of Allah, the day was a memorable success for all those who attended. Without your help and support, the trip would not have been possible.

Feedback from the families and their loved ones in prison, was testimony that the trip made a difference to them. For the families, they were able to enjoy the beautiful countryside in Oxfordshire, whilst their children played and experienced an outdoor trek on the hills. For their loved ones inside, the feeling of knowing that their families were being looked after and effort had been made for them, cannot be described in words.

All the families travelled by coach to Watlington Hills in Oxfordshire, whilst enjoying the scenic route on the way. Gazebos were set up for the sisters, allowing them to relax and socialise with others present. The younger children were occupied with making and flying their own kites. In addition, other games and activities were provided for them, with some even making a tree house and others indulging in face painting! For the older children, a trek with Bush Tucker Ali, from Islam channel, had been organised. As they trekked through the bushes, they learnt about different survival methods and much more along the way. The views from the hills were breathtaking!

For the sisters, a talk on the importance of health and hijama was delivered by an expert in this field, which everyone was able to benefit from. Lunch was provided for all the families, which was followed by congregational prayer. A henna artist had been invited to put henna on the hands of the young girls and sisters, much to their joy! On this blessed hot day, all that was missing was ice cream. However, thanks to everyone's kind donations, an ice cream van had been arranged to come along on the day. The children excitedly chose their ice creams and thoroughly enjoyed them as you can imagine! The first helping went down so well that they were ready for seconds in no time at all! The sisters were also able to experience a relaxing walk around the hills, relieving them of some of their day-to-day stresses and worries.

Overall it was a day enjoyed by all who attended, with everyone leaving with a smile on their face, alhamdulilah. The feedback we received from the families and their loved ones inside was immense. They made du'a for all those that participated in making their day possible. In future, Hhugs hopes to be able to organise similar trips like this for more families of detainees. However, this will only be possible by your continued generosity, help and support.

Once again, jazakamullah khairun to everyone who donated (however big or small) and also to those who volunteered and participated.

We have uploaded a video and some pictures of the trip, which can be viewed on the HHUGS group on facebook, so you can briefly see how successful it was by the Grace of Allah. If you do not have a facebook account, you can view the video by clicking on the link below inshallah:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXVtzho9k74

Jazaak Allah khair
Wassalaam
HHUGS Admin

Brown Announces Iraq War Inquiry – But It Will Be Behind Closed Doors

Gordon Brown will attempt to win over Labour MPs this week by formally announcing an inquiry into the Iraq war. In a move designed to draw a line under the most controversial act of a Labour government, the Prime Minister will announce the investigation into the decision to go to war in 2003 and its protracted and bloody aftermath.

But he is expected to announce the probe, delayed until the final British combat troops returned from Iraq last month, will be held mainly behind closed doors, similar to the Franks Inquiry into the Falklands conflict.

Labour backbenchers and Liberal Democrats have been demanding a full public inquiry. Mr Brown will set out the details of the inquiry in the Commons early this week as he continues his fightback after the failed coup that nearly ended his premiership.

Mr Brown was hit by continuing revelations into the circumstances of the coup – including the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, confirming publicly for the first time that he considered resigning at the same time as his Cabinet colleague James Purnell.

The former deputy prime minister John Prescott added more intrigue to the events in Westminster when he said he had already had "suspicions" about Mr Miliband after seeing him deep in conversation with the Blairite Alan Milburn last week – even though Mr Milburn has denied being part of the plot.

Mr Prescott rebuked the Foreign Secretary for revealing that he had thought of quitting. Mr Miliband told The Guardian: "I'd made my decision on Thursday. Sometimes you can make your decisions with great planning and calculation, sometimes you have to make them rather more quickly. James made his decision in good faith, I made my decision in good faith ... We all have to live with our decisions." Writing on his blog, Mr Prescott said: "Why make a statement like this just when the party is pulling together and fighting back, especially after the political cabinet yesterday?"

Meanwhile, the Secretary of State for Business, Lord Mandelson, warned that the rebels, led by Charles Clarke, would attempt a further coup in the autumn, around the time of the party conference, but said he "wouldn't lose any sleep" over the threat. But the comments from the two cabinet ministers were at odds with the Prime Minister's closest allies, who told The Independent on Sunday last night that Mr Brown's fortunes could be compared to the "ups and downs" experienced by David Beckham.

The insider admitted that the Government under Mr Brown needed "more poetry", but insisted that the PM was determined to fight on. But Mr Brown is expected to face MPs' anger this week if the Iraq inquiry is held in private, as Whitehall sources indicated that it would be similar to the Franks inquiry into the Falklands conflict, which sat in private and was conducted by privy councillors.

Mr Brown has asked the Cabinet Secretary, Gus O'Donnell, to look at the scope, membership and timing of the inquiry, and there may be some opportunity for the public and media to hear discussions, but this would be strictly limited, the Government is expected to say.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: "We have always argued that we need a full public inquiry into the events that led us into this disastrous war. "For this inquiry to be successful, it needs to be fully open, so that the whole country can understand the decisions that led us into the worst foreign policy mistake since Suez."

A Downing Street spokesman refused to comment on the inquiry.

Source: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brown-announces-iraq-war-inquiry-ndash-but-it-will-be-behind-closed-doors-1704807.html

British Anger At Bermuda Decision To Accept Guantánamo Bay Inmates

Britain is to review the legal basis of its relations with Bermuda following a transatlantic row over the resettlement of Guantánamo detainees on the Atlantic island. At the heart of the dispute is whether Bermuda had the right to agree to the transfer of four Chinese Muslim Uighurs from US custody without consulting Britain, its colonial power.

Under the 1968 General Entrustment agreement, Bermuda has the right to conduct foreign relations on condition it consults London before entering into agreements with other states. At issue is whether the prison transfer represented such a formal agreement. In view of the ambiguity and as a punitive measure against Bermuda, the British government is contemplating the suspension of the agreement.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, is understood to have had a tense telephone conversation with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, about why London was not consulted about the resettlement of the four men, despite the fact that Britain has colonial powers over Bermuda's foreign and security policy.

Ian Kelly, the state department spokesman, said the US was confident that it could "work these things through" with the British government. However, it was clear that the US decision to negotiate the resettlement of the four Chinese Muslim Uighurs with Bermuda's prime minister without informing London was a blow to British claims to have a "special relationship" with Washington. It is also an embarrassing reminder of Britain's residual status as a colonial power.

The Foreign Office issued a statement saying that it should have been consulted on whether the matter fell within Bermuda's competence or was "a security issue for which the Bermuda government does not have delegated responsibility".

Bermuda's prime minister, Ewart Brown, said he agreed to host the Uighurs because it was "the right thing to do" but he conceded he had a difficult conversation with the British governor, Richard Gozney. "He is seeking to further assess the ramifications of this move before allowing the government of Bermuda to fully implement this action," Brown said. "Our colonial relationship with the United Kingdom certainly gives him licence to do so."

This latest development follows Washington's failure to convince Britain to resettle more detainees from Guantánamo as part of Barack Obama's efforts to close the prison. British officials argue they have done enough after accepting 13 British citizens released from Guantánamo.

On Wednesday it was reported that 17 Uighurs would be resettled on the remote Pacific island of Palau, formerly a US territory. But yesterday four of the men found themselves landing in an entirely different island as they tasted freedom in Bermuda.

Brown said the men would be allowed to live in the self-governing British territory, first as refugees. He said they would be allowed to pursue citizenship and would have the right to work, travel and "potentially settle elsewhere". Brown said negotiations with Washington over taking in the Uighurs began last month and he had no security concerns because the men had been cleared by US courts.

Abdul Nasser, one of the four detainees who landed in Bermuda yesterday, issued a statement through his lawyers, saying: "Growing up under communism we always dreamed of living in peace and working in a free society like this one. Today you have let freedom ring."

It is the first time since 2006 that the US has successfully resettled any of Guantánamo's population of Uighurs. The Chinese government yesterday demanded that all 17 men, who have been cleared of terrorism allegations, be returned to China.

Palau's president, Johnson Toribiong, said the Uighurs had become "international vagabonds" who deserved his country's age-old tradition of hospitality.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said the US should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country, so as to expatriate them to China at an early date". He did not say if China would take any action.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/12/bermuda-accepts-guantanamo-detainees

China Demands Return Of Guantánamo Detainees Destined For Palau

China demanded today that the US return 17 Chinese Muslims held at Guantánamo Bay to China and not send them to Palau, the tiny Pacific nation that has agreed to accept the detainees.
Palau's president said yesterday that Palau would take in the Uighurs, but China called them "terrorist suspects" and demanded they be sent home. Palau's president, Johnson Toribiong, said the Uighurs had become "international vagabonds" who deserved his country's age-old tradition of hospitality. China said it opposed any country taking them.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, told a news conference that the US should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country, so as to expatriate them to China at an early date". He did not say if China would take any action.

Palau, a former US trust territory in the Pacific, is one of a handful of countries that does not recognise China, instead recognising Taiwan.

Toribiong said Palau did not consider China's reaction when it accepted the US request to temporarily resettle the detainees, who were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001, though the Pentagon later decided they were not enemy combatants. The Obama administration faced fierce congressional opposition to allowing the men to be released on to US soil and sought alternatives abroad.

The US has said it feared the men would be executed if they returned to China. Toribiong said the Uighur detainees from China's arid west would start their new lives in a halfway house to see how they acclimatised to his tropical archipelago east of the Philippines. He called Palau a "Christian nation" but with a 450-member Muslim community.

"It's an old-age tradition of Palauans to accommodate the homeless who find their way to the shores of Palau," Toribiong said. "We did agree to accept them due to the fact that they have become basically homeless and need to find a place of refuge and freedom."

Beijing says the men are members of extremist groups working to separate the far western region of Xinjiang from China. "We understand these 17 people are not terrorists but separatists from their national government in China," Toribiong said. "If China objects to their being in Palau, I would think their objection was also directed at their detention in Guantánamo Bay."

Toribiong said Palau would send a delegation to Guantánamo to assess the Uighur detainees. Palau has retained close ties with the US since independence in 1994 and is entitled to its protection under an accord.

Two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said earlier this week that the US was prepared to give Palau up to $200m in development, budget support and other assistance in return for accepting the men and as part of a mutual defence and co-operation treaty that is due to be renegotiated this year.

How long the men stay depends on whether they can find a better place to go, Toribiong said. "So we'll accept them and the details of the arrangements will be worked out, and they will be here until we can find out where they should be permanently located," he said.

Asked if there had been any public reaction in Palau to the decision, Toribiong said: "Palau's people are always on the side of the US government."

Source: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/11/guantanamo-detainees-china-demands-return

Cageprisoners and the London Guantánamo Campaign invite you to a public meeting:
Shaker Aamer: The Last Londoner in Guantanamo Bay

Date: Saturday 11 July, 3-5pm
Venue:Lower Hall, Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN
Speakers include: Martin Linton MP (Battersea, Moazzam Begg (Cageprisoners, Gareth Peirce (Solicitor, Mr. Siddique (father-in-law of Shaker Aamer)

Shaker Aamer is a 42 year old Saudi national who has been held in Guantánamo Bay for more than 7 years. Seized in Pakistan in late 2001, he has been abused and tortured in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay. In August 2007, the British government called for his release along with four other men. They have all since returned to the UK. Shaker has never been charged or tried. He has a British family living in south London. He has a seven year old son he has never met.

President Obama has pledged to close Guantánamo Bay but the future of the prisoners held there are as uncertain as ever. After seven years, without no trial or charge, Shaker Aamer must be returned to his family…

Organised by Cageprisoners and the London Guantánamo Campaign

contact@cageprisoners.com - 07973 264 197 / london.gtmo@gmail.com - 07809 757 176

www.cageprisoners.com / www.guantanamo.org.uk

First Guantánamo Detainee To Be Tried In The US Faces Terrorism Charges

The first detainee from Guantánamo Bay to be tried in a civilian court in the US is being held in New York today as his hearing in Manhattan begins, in a crucial step towards fulfilling Barack Obama's promise to close the Cuban prison.

Ahmed Ghailani appeared in a federal court today to face multiple charges arising from his alleged role in helping to organise the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa. It marks the first attempt on the part of the Obama administration to find alternatives to holding suspected terrorists in the legal no man's land of Guantánamo Bay by inserting some into the domestic American judicial system.

Ghailani, known as "Foopie", was one of 14 so-called "high-value detainees" brought to Guantánamo Bay in 2006, having been held for two years in secret prisons run by the CIA abroad.

He is accused of having helped to transport TNT explosives and oxygen tanks used in the al-Qaida bombings in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 7 August 1988. The attacks killed more than 200 people, including 12 Americans, and wounded thousands. The Clinton administration responded two weeks later with missile attacks on al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan.

According to prosecutors, Ghailani, then in his 20s, fled Africa shortly before the bombings and joined the al-Qaida leadership in Pakistan, becoming Osama bin Laden's bodyguard. He was captured by the CIA in Pakistan in 2004.

How the trial proceeds in New York is a matter of great political sensitivity for the Obama administration, which has come under intense political pressure since the president announced shortly after his inauguration that he would close Guantánamo Bay by January 2010. Among the options for dealing with the prison's 240 remaining detainees is to bring several back to the US, but that has provoked heated opposition.

The Republicans see the issue as a stick with which to beat the administration, arguing that closing Guantánamo Bay will expose Americans to increased danger from al-Qaida terrorists. Many Democratic politicians are also nervous about the idea of moving high-profile detainees on to US soil, fearing an electoral backlash. The Democrat-controlled Senate recently voted to withhold $80m in funding for the prison's closure, demanding details about what would happen to the detainees.

The Obama administration has countered that by bringing some cases into the US system, justice will finally be served. It points to the fact that only three Guantánamo Bay prisoners were convicted during the Bush years. The attorney general, Eric Holder, said that by bringing Ghailani before a federal court he was "being held accountable for his alleged role in the bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the murder of 224 people".

During the lengthy legal process Ghailani will be held at a "supermax" prison with the highest security level in the US. In speeches, Obama has pointed out that the facilities already hold several convicted terrorists, none of whom have ever escaped.

Ghailani has indicated that he wants to continue to be represented by the military lawyers assigned him in Guantánamo Bay. A crucial part of his defence is likely to be his claim that he was subjected to cruel interrogation methods and deprived of a lawyer while being held in CIA secret prisons. In March 2007, at a hearing that was closed to the public, he admitted delivering explosives used in the embassy bombings, according to a transcript of the proceedings. But he insisted he had not known of the bombing plot in advance and apologised to the US government and families of victims.

If convicted, he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. He could also be given the death penalty.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/09/ahmed-ghailani-guantanamo-new-york-trial

Urgent Action for Mahmoud Abu Rideh

Mahmoud Abu Rideh has been held on a control order for more than four years. Before that he was imprisoned for 3 ½ years under an act of parliament now held to be unlawful. The strict obligations imposed by the control order, together with the lasting effects of the time he spent interned in the UK, have had a severe effect on his physical and mental health as well as the lives of his British family. Mr Abu Rideh has repeatedly self harmed as a result.

On May 25th 2009, his family left the United Kingdom in despair for Jordan, to live with his wife's parents. They were prevented from taking many of their belongings with them since many of the children's possessions had been seized by police as claimed breaches of their father's Control Order. His children were unable while here ever properly to do their home work since they were allowed no access to the internet. As a result they did not sit their exams or complete the academic year, effectively depriving them of one year of their education. Mr Abu Rideh was denied the opportunity of bidding his family farewell at the airport. He now despairs at the thought of never seeing his family again, since he cannot leave the country and his family were told that they have no right to return to the UK, despite the fact that they are British nationals.

Mr Abu Rideh was given assurances previously by the former Home Secretary David Blunkett and former Prime Minister Tony Blair that he would be allowed to leave the UK. He is now requesting that these promises be fulfilled and that he be allowed to start a new life abroad. He has appealed to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, and the British media with no response. He now says that if no action is taken by Tuesday 9th June he will end his life.

He stated in an interview aired on Press TV on May 28th:

"I am already dead. My soul, my life, my heart - every part of me is dead. I am just like a machine walking, with no other feeling. I have nothing left - I cannot even sleep at night; I have nightmares of what they have done to me, to my wife, my children, my time in prison , the searches... this is enough, I've lost my senses, I've been driven insane, I can no longer take it. What is the point of living? I've lost everything, I've lost my wife, I might as well kill myself, that is better for me. I swear by God I have written to Gordon Brown saying that you have two weeks, if I am not helped in this period I will kill myself, whether that's by throwing myself in front of a train, or slitting my wrists, or throwing myself from a high building , or taking an overdose, whatever it takes. Nobody has lived the life I have or what I've had to endure."

Background

A victim of Israel torture, Mahmoud Abu Rideh is a stateless Palestinian. He came to the United Kingdom as a refugee from Jordan and was granted refugee status in November 1998. His family, including his six children, are British citizens.

Mahmoud Abu Rideh was detained without charge between December 2001 and March 2005 under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, on suspicion of being involved in terrorism-related activity. The grounds for that suspicion were kept secret from him and from his lawyers.

The House of Lords in December 2004 decided the law was a breach of the Human Rights Act. The European Court of Human Rights in 2009 confirmed that decision, but went further in Mahmoud Abu Rideh's individual case and said that he had never been told even the bare minimum that he needed to know to contest the UK Government?s case for detaining him for 3 ½ years.

After he won, the government rushed in a new law and the strict obligations imposed by the control order, together with the lasting effects of the time he spent interned in the UK, have had a severe effect on his physical and mental health as well as the lives of his British family.

A control order was imposed on him immediately after his "release" in 2005.

Under the terms of his current control order, Mahmoud Abu Rideh is required to stay inside his home for 12 hours a day, and to phone a monitoring company twice a day. He is not allowed to have any visitors to his home, except those who have been previously approved by the Home Office. He is not allowed to have an internet connection in his home or many other items which include many of the childrens? games and possessions. Any breach of these obligations is considered a criminal offence. These obligations applied equally to everyone else in the house made life impossible for his family, including his six children.

Lord Carlile, the government's Independent Reviewer of anti-terrorist legislation has stated that Control Orders, which are reviewed on an annual basis, should not be used for longer than two years. Despite this, Mr Abu Rideh has been held under a Control Order for more than four years, and yet even before the three years of Control Order existence he had already been imprisoned (unlawfully) for 3 and a half years indefinitely without trial. Whilst all of this has continued for 7 ½ years, his UN travel document issued by the UK has expired, and the Government refuses to provide him with another. Thus he is trapped here, perhaps forever.

Mr Abu Rideh has never been questioned by the authorities, charged with any offence, nor have his solicitors been shown any evidence of why he is considered a security risk.

Psychiatrists' reports over eight years have shown Mr Abu Rideh to have become deeply paranoid, isolated and depressed. The Control Order regimes have driven several men beyond despair, to choose a return to a country where they are likely to be tortured, or to choose, like Mr Abu Rideh, to die.

Take Action for Mahmoud Abu Rideh

Write to the British government
- requesting that Mahmoud Abu Rideh be allowed to leave the UK
- Urging them to fulfil promises made by the former Home Secretary David Blunkett and former Prime Minister Tony Blair
- Expressing serious concern about the immense impact of the control order on Mr Abu Rideh's health and well-being, particularly with the imminent suicide risk he poses

Write to the Iranian President and Ambassador to support Mr Abu Rideh?s request that he be granted leave to settle in Iran.

Send a message of support to Mahmoud at contact@cageprisoners.com or Cageprisoners, 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3XX

Appeals To:

Home Secretary
Secretary of State for the Home Department
3rd. Floor
Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF, UK
Fax: 0044 20 7035 4745
Email : public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
[Salutation: Dear Home Secretary]

Rt Hon Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Prime Minister's Office,
10 Downing Street,
London, SW1A 2AA
https://email.number10.gov.uk/
[Salutation: Dear Prime Minister]

Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
[Salutation: Dear Secretary of State]

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street
End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
via website: www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter(English)
www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter(Persian)
[Salutation: Your Excellency]

Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
16 Prince's Gate
London SW7 1PT
Fax (Embassy): 020 7589 4440
info@iran-embassy.org.uk