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Verily, Allâh enjoins Justice and Correctness, and helping kith and kin and forbids lewd acts and all kinds of evil deed and oppression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed. (An-Nahl: 90) |
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French justice for
Rachid
This shocking photo depicts a hooded Rachid Ramda, hands handcuffed behind his back, his head forced down, being led away from a Paris airport by masked French police officers. Its resemblance to the infamous images of US prisoners abused in Afghanistan and Iraq (below) is striking. On 29th November, Rachid Ramda lost a drawn-out battle to prevent his extradition to France after being held in high-security British jails for over 10 years – six of which were spent in a “concrete coffin” in solitary confinement. Britain’s longest remand prisoner, the 36 year old Algerian political asylum seeker was accused of involvement in a bomb attack on the Paris subway a decade ago. Statements implicating Ramda were extracted from Boualem Bensaid under beatings during interrogation by French police. Rachid’s extradition was initially quashed in June 2002, the High Court finding that there was a ‘real risk’ he would face mistreatment if transferred to France, but the matter returned to the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, for reconsideration. Ramda's expulsion came just hours
after the High Court in London ruled that all legal appeals were
exhausted He was taken from his cell in HMP Belmarsh with neither
money nor sufficient clothing. His solicitors, fellow detainees,
family and friends were not aware of Rachid’s extradition until
news appeared on the French newswires following a media circus at
Bourget Airport to greet his arrival. French officials were
similarly caught by surprise, only learning of the decision when
Ramda was on his way to a London airport under armed guard. ’Inhuman and illegal’ Lord Justice David Keene concluded that Rachid Ramda would be ‘treated fairly in France’. However, these images do nothing to assure the many concerned members of the public. Ramda was hooded on arrival in France, a practice which ended in UK facilities several years ago and which has a 30 year ban in the military. Hooding is one of five techniques found by the European Court of Human Rights to constitute inhuman treatment. Michael Haphold, a lecturer in Law at the University of Nottingham writes:
Deportation to Torture There is also a genuine fear that
Rachid Ramda will eventually be deported to Algeria, where he is at
serious risk of mistreatment or worse. Algeria is notorious for its
well documented human rights’ abuses. Contrary to false media
claims that France has denied Ramda will be extradited, it is well
known that foreign nationals charged with terrorist offences in
France are routinely deported either after the sentence has been
served or if acquitted. Rachid Ramda is the first suspect Britain has handed over since 9/11. Since the 7/7 bombings, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to speed up extraditions. There is a very great concern that Ramda will be the first in a wave of swift extraditions, enacted in a similarly disturbing manner. There are currently at least 6 Muslim men held in British prisons awaiting extradition to Europe and another 5 pending extradition to the US, on terrorism-related charges.
Further Information Download
the original Justice4Rachid introductory leaflet
”This is my situation. It is up to you what to do. I am
cut off from the outside world. I am living in dark ages of
ignorance by my jailers. So I am not able to figure out exactly what
you can do. The only thing I am sure of is I need your help.” 1. Write to your MP. You can find your MP's details on www.faxyourmp.com or www.writetothem.com. You can use the aforementioned points in your letter. You may wish to comment particularly on:
2. Write to the Home Office. Please attach copies of these photographs to your letters.
Mr Bob Wood Send copies of your letters to 3. Rachid’s family was the last to be notified of his extradition. They wept profusely at the news and his mother was left in a state of collapse. You can email messages of support to Rachid’s family, who have been repeatedly denied visas to visit him and hence have not seen him for 12 years, to contact@cageprisoners.com. Rachid expressed that his one hope in life was of embracing his mother again. 4. Write to Rachid. The most important thing his solicitors have advised is that he needs our letters of support.
Monsieur Rachid RAMDA Source: www.cageprisoners.com |
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