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Terror suspects'
appeal rejected
The Court of
Appeal has ruled the government acted legally by detaining 10
terrorism suspects without charge. The foreign nationals were
challenging a decision made by the Special Immigration Appeals
Commission that the government was right to hold them. Their lawyers
argued their arrests were based on information gained through
torture at Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba.
Home Secretary
David Blunkett said he was pleased with the ruling, but the men's
solicitor called it "terrifying". Some of the men have been held
since December 2001 in Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and in a
psychiatric hospital.
Injustice
They were detained under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism and Security Act,
which came into force after the 11 September attacks on the US.
Under the emergency powers, the government must show only that it
has "reasonable grounds to suspect" that foreign nationals have
links to terror, before issuing certificates to hold them.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) last year ruled
there was "sound material" backing the view that the men were a risk
to national security.
The men's solicitor, Gareth Peirce, described the Court of Appeal
ruling as "terrifying". "It shows that we have completely lost our
way in this country legally and morally," she said. "We have
international treaty obligations which prevent the use of evidence
obtained by torture in any proceedings. What this judgement says by
a two-one majority is that if it is obtained by agents of another
country, and not procured or connived at by UK agents, it is usable
without any restriction and there is no obligation on the secretary
of state to inquire into the origins of it."
Last week, a cross-party group of peers and MPs said Home Secretary
David Blunkett should end the detention of foreign terror suspects
without trial "as a matter of urgency".
'Powers used sparingly'
Mr Blunkett said in a statement after Wednesday's ruling: "I am
pleased that my decision to certify these individuals as suspected
international terrorists who pose a threat to our national security
has been upheld by the Court of Appeal."
He added: "The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act was introduced
in response to the public emergency we face, in order that
government can fulfil its primary obligation - to protect national
security. I have used its powers sparingly and proportionately in
only the most serious circumstances, to prevent foreign nationals
who we believe are international terrorists, but are unable to
deport, from remaining at large in the UK."
The detainees' case has been backed by civil liberties groups who
have described Belmarsh as "Britain's Guantanamo". Five of the
prisoners said at the time of the SIAC ruling that it marked "a new
dark age of injustice".
Now after Lords Justice Pill, Laws and Neuberger rejected their case
at the Court of Appeal, the detainees' lawyers are expected to take
steps to take the case to the House of Lords. |
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