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Terror suspect 'left to rot' in prison ======================== Judge asks home secretary to review torture victim's case Audrey Gillan Tuesday June 25, 2002 The Guardian A Palestinian torture victim held without charge for six months in Belmarsh high security prison is so seriously mentally ill that the home secretary should consider moving him to a secure psychiatric unit, a judge said yesterday. Mr Justice Collins said the condition of Mahmoud Abu Rideh, 31, who is described as having been "neglected and allowed to rot" after being interned under anti-terrorism provisions, was deteriorating so badly that he should no longer remain in prison. He is refusing food and drinking only half a litre of fluids a day. At a sitting of the special immigration appeals commission in London, the judge said his treatment by officers who believed him to be feigning mental illness was "counter-productive, dangerous and damaging". Mr Rideh, who is using a wheelchair because of his state, was arrested on December 19 under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 and is detained in a cell for 22 hours a day. He had been put on to a punishment regime because of his odd behaviour, which includes banging his head on his cell wall. The Home Office believes Mr Rideh has associations with international terrorism and may have links with al-Qaida, and is thus a threat to the nation. The court heard that he is so sick he presents a risk only to himself. An asylum seeker who came to Britain in 1995, Mr Rideh was being treated for severe post-traumatic stress disorder following torture at the hands of Israelis when he was a teenager living in Gaza. His detention in Belmarsh, in south-east London, had caused flashbacks: the rattling of keys and the sight of guard uniforms brought back memories of torture. There had been "a whole pattern of bizarre behaviour, cutting himself, banging his head against the wall, hitting himself". Ben Emmerson QC, who asked that Mr Rideh be given bail and sent to a secure psychiatric unit, said: "He has in a very real sense found himself reliving those experiences of torture and on a frequent basis." His illness had not been taken seriously by prison staff and he had been described as a "bullshitter" and a "malingerer". "The overall effect is of a man who has been suffering so seriously in custody that his physical and mental health has reached a point where his life either is now, or soon will be, in serious danger," Mr Emmerson said. The court heard that two psychiatrists in Belmarsh considered Mr Rideh to be fit enough to be held in the prison. However, Prof Ian Robbins, a chartered clinical psychologist working with a specialist unit dealing with victims of torture at St George's hospital in Tooting, London, said he was shocked to see Mr Rideh on his last visit: "He has lost a very large amount of weight; he is far too weak to stand for anything other than seconds; he finds it uncomfortable to sit down; his voice is weak." His lawyer, Gareth Peirce, said her client felt nothing but astonishment and indignation at his arrest and believed he had been totally wrongly detained. Mr Justice Collins said that Mr Rideh had deteriorated noticeably over the past few months. It would be wrong for him to remain in custody and he needed hospital treatment. But he refused to grant bail, saying he thought it better to refer the case back to the home secretary. "Pending appeal, I have to assume that the secretary of state has acted reasonably, that this applicant is indeed a danger to the nation, his activities are such that require him to be kept in detention. That may turn out to be wrong but that I cannot judge until the appeal has been heard." He added: "It may be that the applicant is not likely to be the threat that the secretary of state feared he was when he decided that he should be detained in the first place." Last night a Home Office spokeswoman said: "Obviously any directions made by the judge will be closely examined by the Home Office." Livio Zilli, of Amnesty International, said: "This man's conditions amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment." Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
