Begin forwarded message:
From: "Mario Profaca" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: August 23, 2008 2:07:57 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [SPY NEWS] Report: British MI5 criticized for involvement in
torture, rendition
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/22/content_9617109.htm
Report: British MI5 criticized for involvement in torture, rendition
www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-22 18:49:49 Print
LONDON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- British secret service MI5 was
criticized for its involvement in torture, rendition of a British
resident now held in Guantanamo Bay, British newspaper The Guardian
revealed in a report on Friday.
The report said that British high court found in a judgment that
MI5 participated in the unlawful interrogation of a British resident,
Binyam Mohamed, 30, an Ethiopian national, which raised the serious
questions about the conduct of British secret services.
One MI5 officer, who was so concerned about incriminating himself
that he initially declined to answer questions from the judges even in
private, was later questioned about alleged war crimes under the
international criminal court act, including torture, said the
judgment. But the full evidence surrounding the officer's evidence,
and the judges' findings, remain secret.
The MI5 officer interrogated Mohamed while he was being held in
Pakistan in 2002, and he was later secretly rendered to Morocco, where
he was tortured by having his penis cut with a razor blade, said the
report.
And the U.S. subsequently flew him to Afghanistan, and in
September 2004, he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay.
"The conduct of the security service facilitated interviews by or
on behalf of the United States when [Mohamed] was being detained by
the United States incommunicado and without access to a lawyer." Lord
Justice Thomas and Mr. Justice Lloyd Jones said in the judgment,
adding, "Under the law of Pakistan, that detention was unlawful."
In their ruling, the judges found that MI5 "continued to
facilitate" the interviewing of Mohamed at the behest of the U.S. even
after he was secretly flown out of Pakistan.
It did so by providing information to America although its
officers "must also have appreciated" he was being detained and
questioned in a facility which was "that of a foreign government", and
that government is believed to be Morocco, said the judges.
The report said that the Home Office last month declined the use
of torture or inhumane treatment.
"All security service staff have an awareness of the Human Rights
Act 1998, and are fully committed to complying with the requirements
of the law when working in the UK and overseas." the ministry said on
behalf of the MI5.
It added that the security and intelligence agencies "do not
participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture or
inhumane or degrading treatment".
According to the report, Mohamed is due to be tried for terrorist
offenses before a U.S. military commission in Guantanamo Bay as a
result of confessions he said were extracted by torture. And he would
face the death penalty if found guilty.
Without information held by the British government, he could not
have a fair trial "as he will not be able to try to establish the only
answer he has to the confessions - namely that they were involuntary
and abstracted from him by wrongful treatment", the judges said.
The judges will decide which documents about the case must be
released after a private court hearing next week, said the report.
Editor: Bi Mingxin
------------------------------------
-__ ___ _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ __
/-_|-0-\-V-/-\|-|-__|-|-|-/-_|
\_-\--_/\-/|-\\-|-_||-V-V-\_-\
|__/_|--//-|_|\_|___|\_A_/|__/
SPY NEWS is OSI newsletter and discussion list associated to
Mario's Cyberspace Station - The Global Intelligence News Portal
http://mprofaca.cro.net
http://spynews.byethost13.com
Since you are receiving and reading documents, news stories,
comments and opinions not only from so called (or self-proclaimed)
"reliable sources", but also a lot of possible misinformation
collected and posted to Spy News for OSI purposes - it should be
a serious reason (particularly to journalists and web publishers)
to think twice before using it for their story writing, further
publishing or forwarding throughout Cyberspace.
To unsubscribe:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*** FAIR USE NOTICE: This message contains copyrighted material whose
use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Spy
News is making it available without profit to SPY NEWS members who
have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information
in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law
enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques,
human rights, civil liberties and other intelligence related issues,
for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We always
mention the author and link the original site and page of every
article. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the
copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.
Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for
purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
SPY NEWS home page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spynews
Mario Profaca
http://mprofaca.cro.net/profaca.html
e-mail: mario.profaca[at]zg.t-com.hr
SPY NEWS owner & editor
Yahoo! Groups Links
