The last Briton in Guantanamo faces death penalty

[cal04]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-last-briton-in-guantanamo-faces-death-penalty-836745.html

After being held prisoner by the US for six years, inmate to be charged with terrorism offences despite protesting his innocence
A British resident who is facing the death penalty in Guantanamo Bay has made a final desperate plea to Gordon Brown to end his six-year ordeal and bring him home today.

In a letter delivered to Downing Street, Binyam Mohamed, the last Guantanamo inmate with the automatic right to British residency, calls on the Prime Minister to use his influence with President George Bush to stop an American military "kangaroo court" sending him to his death.

Mr Mohamed, 29, from Kensington, west London, who is expected to be charged by the Americans with terrorism-related offences in the next few days, claims he has suffered horrific abuse during more than six years in detention without trial.

He denies any involvement with terrorism and says any evidence against him has been extracted through torture while he was being questioned by American interrogators in a Moroccan prison.

[struggle4progress]

1. Abused by America, betrayed by Britain

Friday, 30 May 2008

... Mr Mohamed was arrested by Pakistani immigration officials at Karachi airport in 2002 on his way back to Britain. He was sent first to Afghanistan, then to a prison in Morocco for 18 months, before finally being transferred to Cuba. Mr Mohammed has been in Guantanamo for more than four years now. During that time, he has taken part in a hunger strike. More recently, he has exhibited signs of mental disturbance and suicidal depression. A letter by Mr Mohamed will be delivered to Downing Street today, pleading for the Government to petition for his release.

But the US government has other plans for Mr Mohamed. The American military claims he received firearms and explosives training alongside the shoe-bomber Richard Reid in Afghanistan, and that he planned to blow up a US residential block. Mr Mohamed's lawyers expect him to be brought before one of Guantanamo's special military commissions very soon. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Yet these charges are likely to be based on evidence acquired through torture. Mr Mohamed claims he was beaten, scalded and had his genitals slashed with a scalpel while imprisoned in Morocco. Any confession induced through such methods ought to be inadmissible. If the US is determined to put Mr Mohamed on trial, it needs to be done in a proper court, not one of these deeply questionable tribunals.

Consider their deficiencies. Mr Mohamed's defence lawyer will be appointed by the military. And his legal representative will have only limited access to the evidence against the defendant. Meanwhile, the standard of proof required for conviction will be much lower than in any normal court. The judge will even accept evidence collected though "coercion". This does not even come close to being a fair trial ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-abused-by-america-betrayed-by-britain-836713.html

[struggle4progress]

2. Guantanamo inmate files lawsuit seeking papers from UK (5 May)

By DAVID STRINGER – May 7, 2008

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for a Guantanamo Bay detainee said Wednesday they have filed a lawsuit seeking to force the British government to hand over documents that they claim prove the prisoner was tortured before being sent to the U.S. prison in Cuba.

Ethiopian national Binyam Mohamed, 30, claims British intelligence agencies hold evidence that show he was tortured while being held in Morocco for two years ...

A July report by Parliament's intelligence oversight committee said an MI5 officer interviewed Mohamed for three hours in Pakistan in 2002. MI5 denied Mohamed told the officer that he had been warned he was being transferred to Morocco to be tortured ...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jv52VGtYy-yufZNoUmSm3XwkoUPQD90H2NK82