'Torture documents' can be seen

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/8311075.stm

Published: 2009/10/16 15:55:50 GMT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8311075.stm

The High Court has ruled that US intelligence documents containing details 
of the alleged torture of a former UK resident can be released.

Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 31, who spent four years in Guantanamo Bay, 
claims British authorities colluded in his torture while in Pakistan.

High Court judges were previously blocked from making the details public.

The UK government denies allegations of collusion and says it will appeal 
against the court's judgement.

Any publication of the material will be delayed until an appeal takes place.

'Inviolable principle'

Foreign Secretary David Miliband had argued that releasing the material 
would threaten Britain's national security because future intelligence 
sharing with the US could be compromised.

But Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones ruled those arguments 
were unfounded and the material should be made public.

Responding to the judgement, Mr Miliband said in a statement that the UK 
government was "deeply disappointed".

"The issues at stake are simple, but profound. They go to the heart of the 
efforts made to defend the security of the citizens of this country," he 
said.

“ A full public inquiry into the darker side of Britain's war on terror 
becomes more inevitable by the day ” 
Shami Chakrabarti, Liberty
"We only share British intelligence with other countries on the basis that 
they will not disclose that intelligence without our express permission. The 
same inviolable principle applies to foreign intelligence shared with us."

Mr Miliband said the government stood "firmly against torture and cruel, 
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment", but he vowed to continue to 
challenge the court's ruling "in the strongest possible terms".

"I am determined that the vigour with which we fight this case will maintain 
the confidence of and send a clear message to all our intelligence partners 
across the world," he said.

"The United Kingdom will protect the information that you share with us and 
uphold the principle that it is for you, not us or our courts, to decide if 
and when to release such material in to the public domain."

The US also denies any allegations of torture concerning Mr Mohamed.

Government 'shamed'

Mr Mohamed, who once lived in north Kensington, London, returned to the UK 
in February 2009 after seven years in custody.

He claims he was tortured while in US custody in Pakistan, Morocco and 
Afghanistan, and while in Morocco, that he was asked questions supplied by 
British intelligence agency MI5.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights organisation Liberty, said: "The 
government should be shamed by this High Court finding suggesting that 
secrecy is being used to prevent political embarrassment about torture 
rather than to protect national security.

"A full public inquiry into the darker side of Britain's war on terror 
becomes more inevitable by the day."

-- 
Facts are sacred ... but comment is free

"Robin T Cox"  wrote ...

> Foreign Secretary David Miliband had argued that releasing the material
> would threaten Britain's national security because future intelligence
> sharing with the US could be compromised.

Reads like, 'My best friend says he won't be my best friend unless we help 
him away all the bad things he's accused of and I'm accused of being an 
accessory to'.

Sound like not much of a best friend, and I won't be surprised if the whole 
house of cards collapse, the proverbial hits the fan and it's revealed we're 
all up to our necks in it.

As they keep telling us; "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to 
fear". Seems they've gone to extraordinary lengths to keep these documents 
away from public gaze.

The Happy Hippy wrote:

> 
> "Robin T Cox"  wrote ...
> 
>> Foreign Secretary David Miliband had argued that releasing the material
>> would threaten Britain's national security because future intelligence
>> sharing with the US could be compromised.
> 
> Reads like, 'My best friend says he won't be my best friend unless we help
> him away all the bad things he's accused of and I'm accused of being an
> accessory to'.
> 
> Sound like not much of a best friend, and I won't be surprised if the
> whole house of cards collapse, the proverbial hits the fan and it's
> revealed we're all up to our necks in it.
> 
> As they keep telling us; "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to
> fear". Seems they've gone to extraordinary lengths to keep these documents
> away from public gaze.

What Miliband needs to explain is why our government shares information with 
a state that practises torture, if we claim to have an ethical foreign 
policy.

Apart from stinking to high heaven, it's a bad deal on our part, because it 
means that we are giving them kosher information, whereas they are giving us 
information which is mostly crap.

-- 
Facts are sacred ... but comment is free