ENEMIES OF THE STATE?
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
The independent/UK
15 December 2005
Suspected of plotting terror, a group of men have been held for four
years but never charged. Now, in their first testimonies, they reveal
the authorities have not even questioned them since their arrests.
Four men deprived of their liberty for four years on suspicion of
being international terrorists disclose today that they have not once
been questioned by police or security services since being arrested.
The four, who were among 16 suspects detained without trial under
post-11 September terror legislation, later overturned by the law
lords, give harrowing accounts of the treatment they have suffered. All
are now under virtual house arrest. Although three face deportation,
The Independent has learnt that there is no prospect of the men ever
being questioned over the offences they are alleged to have committed.
In interviews with Amnesty International, the four - three Algerians
and a Palestinian - say their detentions have harmed their physical
and mental health. They also complain that their treatment has had
a devastating impact on their wives and families.
The men were interned in Belmarsh jail in south-east London -
which has been called Britain's Guantanamo Bay - and other high
security prisons in conditions consistently condemned by human rights
organisations. Their detentions were ruled illegal by the law lords
a year ago and they have since been released on control orders with
tough restrictions on leaving home.
Three were re-arrested in August under immigration powers pending
deportation and released by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission
Act (Siac) in October on very strict bail conditions amounting to
house arrest. One of them told Amnesty: "We've been moving from one
nightmare to another."
Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International, met the Palestinian
Mahmoud Abu Rideh and an Algerian man known as "H" at their homes in
the past month and spent about an hour with each of them, together
with their wives. She said: "Both men expressed a profound sense of
injustice that their liberty had been taken from them without their
ever being charged, tried or shown any evidence against them. Both
expressed amazement that this could happen in a country like the UK.
"But what struck me most was the impact that the detention and
subsequent house arrest of these men has had on their partners and
their families. Abu Rideh's house doesn't feel like the kind of
bustling home you would expect of a family with five children. It is
silent, sad and isolated. Friends and family are scared to visit -
to do so they have to submit their name and photo to the Home Office,
and in effect become a "known associate of a terrorist suspect".
The disclosure that the men have not been interviewed by the
authorities will embarrass ministers, who have claimed that the men
present such a terrorist threat that they have to be permanently
monitored.
In a report today on the plight of the so-called Belmarsh detainees,
Amnesty calls for charges to be brought against them or for the
restrictions on their freedom to be lifted. A spokesman said: "Is
this really what we call justice in this country? These men have had
their liberty taken from them for four years yet they haven't even
been charged and tried, let alone found guilty of anything. What's
really shocking is that these men, supposedly 'suspected international
terrorists', have never once been questioned since their arrest."
The four - Abu Rideh and the Algerians, known as "A", "G" and "H" -
were interviewed by Amnesty. All complained of mental health problems
including depression and said that their transfer from jail to house
arrest had prolonged their ordeals.
"A" said: "I am basically locked up at home for 24 hours a day ... the
pressure of this situation is enormous on my family."
"G" complains: "Although I have access to my garden (albeit for a
limited portion of the day) I fear that if I reply to any one of
my neighbours saying 'hello' to me I will be in breach of my bail
conditions. So, I don't even go out in the garden. Every night I fear
that the police will come and arrest me again. I feel like I have
lost all access to a normal life." Abu Rideh, who has made at least
four suicide attempts, says: "I can't sleep. I spend all my time in
the house. I don't go outside much; I'm just not up to it."
A Home Office spokesman said last night: "Obviously bail conditions
are set by Siac that are considered necessary to address the risk of
absconding and to protect national security."
The spokesman did not deny that the detainees had never been
questioned by police over the past four years. He said: "We never
discuss individual cases." However, one security source said: "We
believe these men are dangerous, but they cannot be prosecuted. Under
those circumstances there's little point interviewing them."
But Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said:
"The fact that no questioning has taken place since arrest suggests
that little effort has been made to explore the possibility of
criminal charges. If that is the case it is completely unacceptable
... These men have been left in a legal limbo which is contrary to
every tradition of justice in this country. Indefinite detention has
taken an appalling toll on their mental health, just as it has with
the Guantanamo Bay prisoners."
Amnesty is calling for immediate action: "If there is evidence against
them, they should be charged with a recognisably criminal offence and
tried in a British court," said Ms Allen. "Both expressed a wish for
fair treatment, not special treatment - that the authorities should
show them whatever evidence has condemned them to this limbo, and
give them a chance to refute it in court. All they want is justice."
Four men deprived of their liberty for four years on suspicion of
being international terrorists disclose today that they have not once
been questioned by police or security services since being arrested.
The four, who were among 16 suspects detained without trial under
post-11 September terror legislation, later overturned by the law
lords, give harrowing accounts of the treatment they have suffered. All
are now under virtual house arrest. Although three face deportation,
The Independent has learnt that there is no prospect of the men ever
being questioned over the offences they are alleged to have committed.
In interviews with Amnesty International, the four - three Algerians
and a Palestinian - say their detentions have harmed their physical
and mental health. They also complain that their treatment has had
a devastating impact on their wives and families.
The men were interned in Belmarsh jail in south-east London -
which has been called Britain's Guantanamo Bay - and other high
security prisons in conditions consistently condemned by human rights
organisations. Their detentions were ruled illegal by the law lords
a year ago and they have since been released on control orders with
tough restrictions on leaving home.
Three were re-arrested in August under immigration powers pending
deportation and released by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission
Act (Siac) in October on very strict bail conditions amounting to
house arrest. One of them told Amnesty: "We've been moving from one
nightmare to another."
Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International, met the Palestinian
Mahmoud Abu Rideh and an Algerian man known as "H" at their homes in
the past month and spent about an hour with each of them, together
with their wives. She said: "Both men expressed a profound sense of
injustice that their liberty had been taken from them without their
ever being charged, tried or shown any evidence against them. Both
expressed amazement that this could happen in a country like the UK.
"But what struck me most was the impact that the detention and
subsequent house arrest of these men has had on their partners and
their families. Abu Rideh's house doesn't feel like the kind of
bustling home you would expect of a family with five children. It is
silent, sad and isolated. Friends and family are scared to visit -
to do so they have to submit their name and photo to the Home Office,
and in effect become a "known associate of a terrorist suspect".
The disclosure that the men have not been interviewed by the
authorities will embarrass ministers, who have claimed that the men
present such a terrorist threat that they have to be permanently
monitored.
In a report today on the plight of the so-called Belmarsh detainees,
Amnesty calls for charges to be brought against them or for the
restrictions on their freedom to be lifted. A spokesman said: "Is
this really what we call justice in this country? These men have had
their liberty taken from them for four years yet they haven't even
been charged and tried, let alone found guilty of anything. What's
really shocking is that these men, supposedly 'suspected international
terrorists', have never once been questioned since their arrest."
The four - Abu Rideh and the Algerians, known as "A", "G" and "H" -
were interviewed by Amnesty. All complained of mental health problems
including depression and said that their transfer from jail to house
arrest had prolonged their ordeals.
"A" said: "I am basically locked up at home for 24 hours a day ... the
pressure of this situation is enormous on my family."
"G" complains: "Although I have access to my garden (albeit for a
limited portion of the day) I fear that if I reply to any one of
my neighbours saying 'hello' to me I will be in breach of my bail
conditions. So, I don't even go out in the garden. Every night I fear
that the police will come and arrest me again. I feel like I have
lost all access to a normal life." Abu Rideh, who has made at least
four suicide attempts, says: "I can't sleep. I spend all my time in
the house. I don't go outside much; I'm just not up to it."
A Home Office spokesman said last night: "Obviously bail conditions
are set by Siac that are considered necessary to address the risk of
absconding and to protect national security."
The spokesman did not deny that the detainees had never been
questioned by police over the past four years. He said: "We never
discuss individual cases." However, one security source said: "We
believe these men are dangerous, but they cannot be prosecuted. Under
those circumstances there's little point interviewing them."
But Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said:
"The fact that no questioning has taken place since arrest suggests
that little effort has been made to explore the possibility of
criminal charges. If that is the case it is completely unacceptable
... These men have been left in a legal limbo which is contrary to
every tradition of justice in this country. Indefinite detention has
taken an appalling toll on their mental health, just as it has with
the Guantanamo Bay prisoners."
Amnesty is calling for immediate action: "If there is evidence against
them, they should be charged with a recognisably criminal offence and
tried in a British court," said Ms Allen. "Both expressed a wish for
fair treatment, not special treatment - that the authorities should
show them whatever evidence has condemned them to this limbo, and
give them a chance to refute it in court. All they want is justice."
