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Top court considers
"Britain's Guantanamo"
LONDON (Reuters) - Nine foreign terror suspects held indefinitely
without charge in what critics have dubbed "Britain's Guantanamo"
have begun a legal challenge against their detention at the UK's
highest court.
The nine are among 11 men held under British emergency laws rushed
through after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States
which allow police to hold foreigners without trial if they suspect
they are involved in terrorism.
To enact the legislation, Prime Minister Tony Blair's government had
to declare an emergency and suspend parts of the European Convention
on Human Rights, the only country to do so.
Civil rights campaigners accuse both Britain and the U.S. of
trampling over the rule of law as they seek to combat the threat of
terror attacks.
Hundreds of demonstrators staged a protest on Sunday outside the top
security Belmarsh jail in south London where some of the detainees
are held.
Lawyer Ben Emmerson, representing seven detainees, told a rare
sitting of nine law lords -- the greatest number of senior judges
that can hear a case -- that the powers were illegal and Britain was
in breach of international law.
"We say in a democracy it is unacceptable to lock up potentially
innocent people without trial or any indication when, if ever, they
are going to be released," he said.
"We say it is doubly unacceptable for a democracy committed to the
principles of equality and anti-discrimination to single out foreign
nationals when it is not prepared to apply the same measures to its
own nationals."
Terror trap for democracy
Emmerson said there was a danger of "falling into the trap which
terrorism set for democracy and the rule of law".
"There is an inevitable temptation for governments to fight fire
with fire and set aside the legal safeguards which exist in a
democratic state," he said.
The government -- whose top lawyer, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith,
is arguing its case -- says the emergency laws are vital and called
the al Qaeda September 11 attacks an "unprecedented form of
terrorism."
"The UK raised its profile as an enemy of al Qaeda by joining in the
military intervention in Afghanistan. That in turn underlined the
importance of the government taking effective measures to safeguard
the British population against terrorist attacks," Goldsmith said in
written submissions.
Civil rights campaigners have long argued the powers are being used
disproportionately against Muslims.
They liken the detainees' situation to those at the U.S. prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where more than 600 people have been held
without charge or access to lawyers, some for more than two years,
amid accusations of torture and abuse.
Under the emergency laws, the authorities must show only that they
have "reasonable grounds to suspect" the detainees have links to
terrorism, a standard far below the "proof beyond reasonable doubt"
needed to convict them of an actual crime.
The hearing is set to last four days and no verdict is likely for at
least a month.
Source: Reuters
4 October 2004
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