A British court has ordered the government to disclose secret US intelligence about the torture and abuses of a Briton by American jailors at the notorious Guantanamo detention center, The Independent reported on Thursday, February 11.
"It could be readily contended to be at the very least cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities," ruled the judges.
The court ordered the government to unveil secret CIA intelligence on the investigation and treatment of detainee Binyam Mohamed.
A seven-paragraph summary released by the court showed the detainee was subjected to "sleep deprivation, threats and inducements."
It also showed that Mohamed was shackled and told he would "disappear" if he failed to cooperate with US interrogators.
"It was reported that the stress brought about by these deliberate tactics was increased by him being shackled in his interviews," added the summary.
Mohamed, who was born in Ethiopia but held British residency, was arrested by US and Pakistani agents in Karachi in 2002 on suspicions of working with Al-Qaeda and plotting to build a dirty bomb.
He was then taken to Morocco and Afghanistan before eventually being flown to Guantanamo in 2004.
After five years in the notorious detention center, Mohamed was released and all charges against him were dropped.
He insisted British authorities knew he was tortured by US jailers and sued the government to release the secret intelligence summary.
Complicity
Human rights groups praised the court ruling for exposing the government’s complicity in the US torture.
"It shows the British authorities knew far more than they let on about Binyam Mohamed and how he was tortured in US custody," said Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty.
"These embarrassing paragraphs reveal nothing of use to terrorists but they do show something of the UK Government’s complicity with the most shameful part of the War on Terror."
Chakrabarti called for a full and broad public inquiry into British complicity in US detainee torture.
"Our hands are very dirty indeed."
Claire Algar, from the human rights group Reprieve, said the court ruling will help undermine the culture of secrecy growing in Britain.
"What has happened recently is that David Miliband and the British government have simply sited the 'national security' defense in relation to anything they don't want to tell the British public and so basically the national security defense has been used in relation to instances of essentially national embarrassment."
"It could be readily contended to be at the very least cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities," ruled the judges.
The court ordered the government to unveil secret CIA intelligence on the investigation and treatment of detainee Binyam Mohamed.
A seven-paragraph summary released by the court showed the detainee was subjected to "sleep deprivation, threats and inducements."
It also showed that Mohamed was shackled and told he would "disappear" if he failed to cooperate with US interrogators.
"It was reported that the stress brought about by these deliberate tactics was increased by him being shackled in his interviews," added the summary.
Mohamed, who was born in Ethiopia but held British residency, was arrested by US and Pakistani agents in Karachi in 2002 on suspicions of working with Al-Qaeda and plotting to build a dirty bomb.
He was then taken to Morocco and Afghanistan before eventually being flown to Guantanamo in 2004.
After five years in the notorious detention center, Mohamed was released and all charges against him were dropped.
He insisted British authorities knew he was tortured by US jailers and sued the government to release the secret intelligence summary.
Complicity
Human rights groups praised the court ruling for exposing the government’s complicity in the US torture.
"It shows the British authorities knew far more than they let on about Binyam Mohamed and how he was tortured in US custody," said Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty.
"These embarrassing paragraphs reveal nothing of use to terrorists but they do show something of the UK Government’s complicity with the most shameful part of the War on Terror."
Chakrabarti called for a full and broad public inquiry into British complicity in US detainee torture.
"Our hands are very dirty indeed."
Claire Algar, from the human rights group Reprieve, said the court ruling will help undermine the culture of secrecy growing in Britain.
"What has happened recently is that David Miliband and the British government have simply sited the 'national security' defense in relation to anything they don't want to tell the British public and so basically the national security defense has been used in relation to instances of essentially national embarrassment."
