by Frances Gibb and Tim Reid
Times UK Online

Saturday 05 July 2003

LAWYERS expressed outrage yesterday at plans to put al-Qaeda suspects, including two Britons and an Australian, on military trial in Guantanamo Bay.

They would effectively be tried by a “kangaroo court”, stripped of all basic rights of due process that would be afforded in criminal courts in Britain or America, they said.

No charges have yet been levelled against Moazzem Begg from Birmingham or Feroz Abbasi from Croydon, although Pentagon lawyers are finalising the wording of the indictments.

Matthias Kelly, QC, chairman of the Bar of England and Wales, said that the proposed trials were “totally illegitimate and a violation of every rule in international law”.

He said: “The construction of execution chambers makes virtually every lawyer in the Western world extremely angry. The idea that there is an artificial creation or enclave which, according to the Americans, is beyond the purview of all recognised systems of law is repugnant.”

Mr Kelly, also a member of the New York Bar and US Federal Bar, added: “If America wants to put people on trial, why not put them on trial before a recognised international tribunal? There is a well-tried system for doing that.

“It is wholly inappropriate and in fact outrageous for the United States to create this special mechanism.”

Stephen Jakobi, director of Fair Trials Abroad, said: “So, you have a friendly government which is going to put our suspects in a kangaroo court where they could face the death penalty. And what is Tony Blair going to do?”

Neal Sonnett, a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers, said: “The State Department issues a report every year in which it criticises those nations that conduct trials before secret military tribunals. What I’m hearing sounds alarmingly like something similar.”

Louise Christian, Mr Abbasi’s lawyer, said: “We are horrified that the British Government is allowing this to happen.”

The fate of the British and Australian detainees is being contrasted with that of John Walker Lindh. The 21-year-old Taleban fighter from California was brought before a judge in Washington and allowed to strike a plea bargain which reduced a probable life sentence to 20 years.

But the defendants taken before these military tribunals which can try only non-Americans, will be represented by Pentagon approved lawyers.

Baroness Symons, the Foreign Office Minister, said yesterday: “The fact is that I can’t alter the legal processes in the US. America has decided that they want to be the detaining power and that they want to hold the trials there, and it is now up to us to have a very vigorous discussion with the US about securing a fair trial.”

President Bush’s move represents a defeat for Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who said at the time of the first detentions that he wanted British suspects tried in Britain.

Pentagon officials said that there was evidence that the six, whom they refused to name, had attended “terrorist training camps” and may have been involved in financing al-Qaeda.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, has delegated to his deputy, the hawkish Paul Wolfowitz, the final decision on whether the prosecutions will proceed.

“There are a lot of checks and balances in this system,” one Pentagon spokesman told The Times. Asked what those checks and balances were, the official cited the review of the President’s decision by Mr Wolfowitz.

Asked if there were any other checks and balances other than that, the official replied: “No, sir.”

Isolated, strictly supervised and deprived of rights: how Camp Delta treats inmates
Duncan Campbell
The Guardian

Depression and suicide attempts are reported from Guantanamo Bay

Saturday July 5, 2003

Nearly 700 prisoners from 38 nations detained by the US forces after the war in Afghanistan are held at Camp Delta at the US naval station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The US authorities say that the detainees are al-Qaida and Taliban members and potential terrorists, while the camp's critics claim that it is illegal under international law and that a growing number of prisoners suffer serious psychological problems and already 34 have attempted suicide. Many of those detained have claimed that they have no connection with al-Qaida but were caught up in the round-up carried out by US troops.

Construction of Camp Delta began in February last year to cope with the increased number of detainees after the initial detention centre, Camp X-Ray, had proved too small, with its capacity of 320, to hold all the prisoners. Plans are under way to increase the size of the camp to hold more than 800 by the end of the year.

There are 24 detention units in each block at the camp, the units being 2.4m (8ft) long, 2m (6ft 8ins) wide and 2.4m high. Conditions are better than those at Camp X-Ray, with each unit having its own sink, toilet and bed.

Prisoners are entitled to three meals a day, which are described as "culturally appropriate" - offering a diet that does not conflict with the detainees' Islamic faith. Camp officials claim that prisoners have put on an average of about 6kg (13lb) each.

Tight security
Security is so tight that any materials associated with the food that could possibly be used by detainees to create a makeshift weapon are removed by guards and at the end of every meal prisoners have to account for every item connected with the food. One of the reasons given is to prevent detainees from committing suicide.

As well as the 34 prisoners reported to have attempted suicide, more than 80 are said to suffer from psychological problems, mainly depression. Three have tried to hang themselves using home-made nooses.

The prisoners are dressed in orange suits and flip-flop sandals and are each given a pair of shorts because the temperature can reach 38C (100F). They are entitled to two showers a week. The detainees are also allowed a copy of the Koran and a prayer mat; an arrow in each cell points in the direction of Mecca.

The official reason for holding the prisoners at Camp Delta is that they are non-American citizens and that they were members of al-Qaida or have trained with the group. Of the 38 different nationalities, the largest number are Saudi Arabians at around 150, with more than 80 Yemenis and more than 50 Pakistanis.

Despite the official end of hostilities in Afghanistan, there has been a steady stream of prisoners since the camp opened. In June last year there were 536 detainees at the camp, a figure which has now increased to 680. They range in age from a 15-year-old boy to men in their seventies.

Detainees who have been released from the camp - around 35 so far - and returned to Afghanistan have mainly complained about the extreme isolation and the fact that they were often kept with people whose language they did not share.

While there have not been complaints of beatings, those interrogated have said that they were subjected to sleep deprivation during the sessions, which are carried out by intelligence officers from the CIA and the military. Those who misbehave are taken to the "cooler", and if they require medical treatment they are shackled to trolleys before being taken to the medical facility.

The prisoners at Camp Delta are not entitled to access to lawyers or any of the normal legal rights of prisoners. A number of lawyers based in Los Angeles have sought through the courts to gain access to the men to represent them but have been rebuffed.

In the planned tribunals, the prisoners will be given a defence lawyer but not one of their choice and they will be subject to a number of other restrictions: the prosecution lawyers will be entitled to listen in to all discussions between the accused and his lawyer. There will also be no appeal if the accused is convicted.

Civil rights organisations in the US have argued that the men should be tried or released, but few mainstream politicians have adopted that position