David Davis, the former shadow (Conservative) home secretary, has demanded a statement from ministers in Britain concerning a High Court ruling (dated today) that alleged a British resident, Binyam Mohamed, was tortured at Guantanamo Bay. According to the human rights campaign group, Liberty, the Judges wanted to publish the details of the case. However, the Foreign Office told the Judges of the case (in court) that if the details of the case were released that the US government had threatened to withdraw intelligence cooperation from Britain if the details of the case were revealed. Two high court judges have formally criticised the US government for pressurising (pressuring in american english) them to prevent release of the details of the case.
Who is David Davis?
For those of you who do not know whom David Davis is, he is a Thatcherite member of the Conservative (Tory Party). http://en.wikipedia.org/... While not known as a champion of human rights, he, at least on the surface, does attempt to kowtow to limited notions of democracy, especially if it can be used to raise political debate against the Labour party. In June 2008, he resigned his seat as well as his position as shadow home secretary creating a by-election in which he run with the expressed purpose of raising the question of the erosion of civil liberties in Britain.
What has happened?
Irrespective of his positions, Davis is raising a good point. Given the fact that the judges of the case did want to release all of the details of the case and were informed in court by members of the Foreign Office that the US government had threatened to withdraw/withhold intelligence information and cooperation from the British government, the Judges decided to not release all the information of the case.
According to Davis as cited in an Independent article http://www.independent.co.uk/...:
Lord Justice Thomas issued an astonishing ruling in the case of Binyam Mohamed, a British resident currently being held at Guantanamo bay and who has made an accusation of British involvement in torture inflicted on him while held in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Morocco.
The ruling implies that torture has taken place in the Mohamed case, that British agencies may have been complicit, and most important of all, that the United States Government has threatened our High Courts that if it releases this information, the US Government will withdraw its intelligence co-operation with the United Kingdom on matters of security.
Binyam Mohammed is being represented by the ACLU in a case alleging that he was tortured. The Bush administration clearly had attempted to cover-up the details of the case stating that it will harm US national security. According to the ACLU, the UK is also claiming that if the information relating to the case is turned over to the ACLU, it would harm British national security. The ACLU is hoping that the Obama administration will intervene in the case and allow the details of Mohammed's treatment to be released so that the case can continue.
Some serious implications:
Several questions are now being raised by Liberty and others:
- was the Obama administration consulted prior to the members of the Foreign Office stating that the US government did not want the details of the case revealed?
- is the cover-up arising from British government attempts to protect themselves over the fact that they are essentially complicit in the torture of Binyam Mohammed?
- it was the GW Bush administration that wanted the information of the case kept quite, but is the Obama administration also part of the cover-up or it is solely a british government attempt?
Liberty is demanding a full investigation and examination into the allegations of British complicity in torture carried out by the US. If, and it looks quite possible, the details of this case are released (hopefully under pressure from the Obama administration), the implications for the Tony Blair and the current Labour government are very serious as unlike the US government under Bush, there has been no attempt to overturn laws and redefine the meaning of torture and these officials will be liable for investigation, trial and punishment. Moreover, this will also incriminate officials of the Bush administration.