The case of Binyam Mohamed is a national disgrace. Binyam
faces trial before the Military Commissions at Guantamo, which all fair-minded
people regard as kangaroo courts. The US administration is desperately trying
to wangle a few convictions in order to justify keeping suspects locked up for
years and torturing them at Guantamo Bay. Binyam faces the death penalty, but
his defence has a problem. They cannot procure the evidence that could save
him. The US government refuses to release the documents.
The High Court judges sharply criticised this refusal.
“Torturers do not readily hand over evidence of their conduct,” they pointed
out. They went on to argue that the documents being withheld are, “The only
independent evidence” that can aid his defence. Suppressing them, they argue, “Would
be to deny him the opportunity of timely justice in respect of the charges
against him.” This goes back, “At least to the time of Magna Carta and which is
a basic part of our common law and democratic values.” Foreign Secretary Miliband
has made it clear he doesn’t give a stuff for ‘our democratic values’. He is
part of the cover-up.
Of course, most of the evidence against Binyam consists of
his confessions. His lawyers say, “Such evidence will be central to the defence
of Mr. Mohamed because any evidence obtained as a result of torture is
inadmissible.” So, is it? The British government has been given access to
Binyam’s medical records from Guantamo, which should supply the answer. They
refuse to release these to his defence lawyers.
Binyam Mohamed lived in London as a refugee from 1994 to
2001. He then went to Afghanistan, and then Pakistan, where he was picked up as
a terrorist suspect. Held incommunicado in Pakistan, he was questioned for a
time by a British agent. He was the object of rendition to Morocco, where he
was tortured. Among other things his penis was slashed with a razor. From the
close questioning he received about his years in Britain, it was clear that
British intelligence was co-operating with his interrogation. Binyam takes up
the story. “Today I was questioned about my links with Britain. The
interrogator told me, ‘We have been working with the British, and we have
photos of people given to us by MI5. Do you know these?’ I realized that the
British were sending questions to the Moroccans. I was at first surprised that
the Brits were siding with the Americans. I sought asylum in Britain rather
than America because it’s known as the one country that has laws that it
follows. To say that I was disappointed at this moment would be an
understatement.”
Though the British agents didn’t wield the razor themselves,
they knew exactly how the confessions were to be procured. Binyam was then
moved to a ‘dark prison’ in Kabul, where he was kept chained against a wall in
total darkness and bombarded with ear-splitting sounds. Finally in 1994 he
ended up in Guantanamo.
Miliband is co-operating in the suppression of evidence that
could save Binyam. In effect he is conniving at torture. The US government is
claiming that disclosure would harm ‘intelligence sharing’ between the two
countries. In effect they are blackmailing the British spooks with turning off
their supply of secret titbits unless they take part in the cover-up. Of
course, since this ‘intelligence’ was acquired through systematic torture, most
of it is complete rubbish.
Clive Stafford Smith, who represents Binyam, sums it up.
“First they torture him, then they held him for more than six years without
trial, now they want to cover up evidence that could set him free…What is the
point of a ‘special relationship’ if the UK
government cannot secure basic justice for Mr Mohamed.” As he points out,
there has been, “Systematic British co-operation in the US rendition process.”
It seems the UK government is not interested in
justice for Binyam Mohamed. Miliband is up to his neck in the extraordinary
rendition and torture that have sullied the reputation of the USA – and the UK
– for years past.
