14 Dec 09 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Lawyers for the foreign secretary, David Miliband have branded two senior judges “irresponsible” for wanting to disclose intelligence material related to allegations of torture involving the CIA and the UK’s alleged collusion. Jonathan Sumption QC, appearing for the foreign secretary, told the Court of Appeal the stance taken by High Court judges Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones could “seriously damage national security”. The foreign secretary is appealing against six high court judgments ruling that CIA information on Mohamed’s treatment, and what MI5 and MI6 knew about it, must be disclosed. The appeal is being opposed by both Mr Mohamed and media organisations. The case resumes tomorrow and is due to last three days. Read more here
20 Nov 09 | Uncategorized
The High Court has again rejected claims made by the Foreign Office in an attempt to block the release of evidence relating to the detention of Binyam Mohamed.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband argues that the release of materials detailing Mohamed’s treatment at the hands of the CIA would seriously harm Britain’s intelligence-sharing relationship with the US.
According to the Guardian:
The judges revealed that seven paragraphs in a key document Miliband insists must remain secret “relate to admissions of what officials of the US did to BM during his detention in Pakistan”. They repeated their earlier finding that “what is contained in those seven redacted paragraphs gives rise to an arguable case of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.
The court has heard that a British security service officer interrogated Mohamed in Pakistan and officials passed information about him to the CIA. It was clear, the judges said, that the relationship of the UK to the US in connection with Mohamed “was far beyond that of a bystander or witness to the alleged wrongdoing”.
Read the rest here
16 Oct 09 | Index Index, News and features
In a landmark judgment, the High Court has ruled that information on Mohamed’s treatment should be released, despite the objections of the Foreign Office. Index on Censorship reports
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31 Jul 09 | United Kingdom
A revised High Court judgment on the case of Binyam Mohamed suggests that British intelligence services were aware of the location and treatment of the Ethiopian-born former Guantanamo inmate during his detention in Morroco. Mohamed claims to have been tortured while imprisoned there.
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