Britain warned on deporting suspects in terror cases
21 Oct 2008 23:01:16 GMT Source: Reuters
By Golnar Motevalli LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Britain should not deport foreigners suspected of terrorist activities to countries such as Algeria and Jordan because they cannot be trusted not to torture them, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Wednesday. "The torture and abuse of terrorism suspects in Algeria and Jordan is no secret, yet both governments routinely deny credible allegations of such abuse," Julia Hall, senior counter-terrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch, said. "There is plenty of evidence that these governments cannot be trusted to prevent torture," she added. Human Rights Watch's 36-page report is being released ahead of separate rulings this month by Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, into appeals against extradition made by two terrorism suspects from Algeria and one from Jordan. The highest profile of the cases involves Omar Othman, otherwise known as Abu Qatada, a Muslim cleric accused of ties to al Qaeda whom Britain wants to deport to Jordan. The British government has sought assurances from both countries that the suspects will not be tortured if they are deported, but Human Rights Watch said diplomatic guarantees were not enough. In all three cases, Human Rights Watch said, the British government had conceded that, were it not for the diplomatic assurances, the three men could be at risk of torture. It also said the assurance Britain had received from Jordan that Abu Qatada would not be harmed was effectively unenforceable and was not a legal safeguard. Human Rights Watch said Britain was trying to make diplomatic assurance an acceptable way of side-stepping the risk of deporting suspects who might be tortured, and suggested other countries were also looking to adopt the measure. "The British government is setting a bad example at a time when torture prevention is under assault," Hall said. "If these men are suspected of terrorist activity, prosecute them in fair trials in Britain." The House of Lords is expected to hear the case of the two Algerians -- named by their initials as RB and U -- on Oct. 22 and 23, and will hear Abu Qatada's case on Oct. 28 and 29. (Editing by Michael Roddy)
UN peacekeepers from Jordan patrol the border between Haiti and Dominican Republic, in the zone know as Malpasse, October 16, 2008. The Security Council extended the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping ...
