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History of Terror Suspect Detentions
Britain is “actively
pursuing” deals with several North African countries which would
allow the deportation of terror suspects detained under emergency
anti-terror laws, it emerged today.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke is preparing to respond to a Law
Lords’ ruling which deemed unlawful the indefinite detention of
foreign suspects.
Under human rights law, the men cannot be deported if there is a
risk of them being tortured or sentenced to death in their
homelands.
New agreements would seek guarantees that any suspects who were
deported would not face oppression.
Main events in the row over the anti-terror legislation are:
2001
October 15 – Former home secretary David Blunkett unveils his tough
new measures in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA),
just over a month after the September 11 atrocities. Admitting it
will be necessary to opt out of part of the European Convention on
Human Rights to detain people without trial, he insists the measures
would “protect and enhance our rights, not diminish them”.
December 14 – The ATCSA receives Royal Assent.
December 19 – Eight suspected international terrorists are detained
in London, Luton and Birmingham after Mr Blunkett approves their
“certification” under the Act. The eight are Djamel Ajouaou, Abu
Rideh and the un-named men A, C, D, E, F and G.
Detainee Ajouaou voluntarily leaves the UK, as allowed under the
legislation. He flies to his homeland of Morocco.
2002
February 5 – Suspect B is certificated and detained.
March 12 – Detainee F voluntarily leaves the UK, as allowed under
the legislation. Accompanied by two police officers the Algerian
travels to France where authorities allow him to stay.
April 22 – Suspects H and I are certificated and detained.
July 30 – The judicial body which hears appeals from those detained
under the Act, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC),
rules the law is “not only discriminatory and so unlawful ... but
also it is disproportionate”. The ATCSA was unfair because it
allowed the internment only of foreign nationals, the commission
says.
October 23 – Suspect Abu Qatada certificated.
October 25 – The Court of Appeal allows an appeal by the Home
Secretary over the SIAC ruling. The government is entitled to
conclude there is a public emergency threatening Britain and the
detentions were not unjustifiably discriminatory, appeal judges say.
November 23 – Suspect M is certificated and detained.
2003
January 15 – Suspects P and Q are certificated and detained.
February 12 – The Government’s independent reviewer of
anti-terrorism laws, Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, backs Mr Blunkett’s
use of the powers as “appropriate”. But he recommends the suspects
should be kept in a prison unit separate from convicted prisoners
and allowed more “internal freedom” within jail.
August 7 – Suspect S is certificated and detained.
October 2 – Suspect K is certificated and detained.
October 29 – SIAC delivers its first rulings on individual
detainees, upholding the Home Secretary’s decision in all 10 it had
considered.
December 18 – An influential committee of Privy Counsellors, set up
by Mr Blunkett and chaired by Lord Newton of Braintree, is highly
critical of the ATCSA’s detention powers and insists they should be
replaced “as a matter of urgency”.
2004
February 26 – Announcing plans for new anti-terror legislation, Mr
Blunkett says his controversial internment powers will remain an
“essential component” of the Government’s measures.
March 18 – Detainee M is freed from prison after Lord Chief Justice
Lord Woolf upholds a SIAC ruling that his detention was unjustified
and based on evidence that was “wholly unreliable and should not
have been used”. The 37-year-old Libyan is the first to successfully
challenge his detention, following 16 months at Belmarsh high
security prison in south-east London.
April 22 – Detainee G is granted bail after SIAC rule that the
35-year-old Algerian can be held under effective house arrest due to
mental illness. Mr Blunkett condemns the decision as
“extraordinary”, adding that others would consider it “bonkers”.
August 4 – Parliament’s all-party Joint Committee on Human Rights
calls for an alternative to be found to the ATCSA’s internment
powers, condemning the law’s “corrosive effect” on human rights.
Reforms should instead allow more suspected terrorists to be charged
and face trial rather than remain in legal limbo, members say.
September 20 – Detainee D is freed from Belmarsh jail on the order
of the Home Secretary. The Home Office declines to explain why the
Algerian has been released after nearly three years in detention.
October 4 – Appellate Committee of the House of Lords begins to hear
an appeal by nine of the detainees, who hope to overturn the Court
of Appeal ruling from October 2002.
December 16 – Law Lords rule by eight to one in favour of the
detainees. Lord Bingham said the anti-terrorism law was incompatible
with the European Convention on Human Rights because it was
disproportionate and discriminated against foreign nationals. New
Home Secretary Charles Clarke says he will study the judgment to see
“whether it is possible to modify our legislation to address the
concerns raised”.
2005
January 19 – Mr Clarke reveals that Britain is “actively pursuing”
deals with several North African countries which would allow the
deportation of terror suspects without the risk of them being
tortured or sentenced to death in their homelands.
Source: Scotsman
19 January 2004
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