Court of Appeal gives Green Light to Torture: Argues Amnesty

THE MUSLIM WEEKLY 2004
The Court of Appeal in London has rejected a legal challenge by 10 foreigners held without charge on Wednesday. Amnesty International described the judgment as yet another example of the erosion of human rights post 9/11. Some of the 10 had been held since December 2001 amidst torture claims, with the ruling coming in the wake of fresh ‘terror arrests’ country-wide last week.

Using language that refreshes discussion about how far governments can compromise human rights in their anti-terror objectives, Lord Justice John Laws, amongst the panel of three, decided on voting to dismiss the appeals, saying that the “sickening massacre of many hundreds of innocent persons in New York” justified examining evidence that would be banned in a criminal court. He justified further by adding, “If (the state) limits the means by which the citizens are protected against the threat of terrorist outrage to the ordinary measures of the criminal law, it leaves a yawning gap.”

The court in their 2 to 1 decision, ruled that while British authorities could not use evidence obtained by torture that the state had “procured or connived at,” It doesn’t have to ignore information obtained by torture from other governments. This coupled with the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act of 2001 provision to enable the government being under no obligation to tell someone it detains or their lawyers what evidence it has against them, only increases the legal limbo that many have found themselves in, argue Muslims.

Gareth Peirce, a lawyer representing the men said the implication of Wednesday’s ruling was “terrifying” and it represented “a horrifying, horrifying low in our history”. On his part, Home Secretary Blunkett maintained, that he used powers bestowed on him “sparingly and proportionately in only the most serious circumstances “ re-iterating that foreign detainees had the option to be deported.

Allegations that the authorities circumvent any possible detaining loopholes were refreshed, when on Sunday, 2 of the 13 arrested last week were released without charge only to be re-arrested on suspicion of other offences.

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s ruling provides the option to appeal to the House of Lords.