Thursday, February 5, 2009

David Miliband accused of 'cover up' of torture





By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor
The Telegraph UK
05 Feb 2009


Mr Miliband appeared before Parliament to justify his decision not to release information on the treatment of Binyam Mohamed, a British resident held at Guantanamo Bay. However, he indicated that British intelligence officers are set to be prosecuted over their role in the affair.

Two High Court judges accused the American Government of threatening to withdraw all intelligence co-operation from Britain if details of Mr Mohamed's treatment were released.

He is alleged to have been tortured while held in captivity in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco and Guantanamo Bay. Mr Mohamed was initially charged with terrorism offences although all charges have now been dropped.
....

Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International, also condemned Mr Miliband's stance. She said: "Frankly it's shocking that David Miliband is basically arguing that torture should be covered up. "The government constantly says it opposes torture in all instances but then when it discovers its taken place - possibly with the connivance of UK intelligence officials - the government appears to go into cover-up mode. "There is a strong public interest in knowing what both UK and US agents are doing in our name."

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