Strict embargo: Wed 19th August 2009
The Obama Administration will deliberately endanger innocent British civilians
if torture evidence is revealed, the British government says; lawyers will today
write to Secretary Hillary Clinton to verify the claim.
The US government has made an explicit threat that it is prepared to put ordinary
British lives at risk in order to prevent a British Court from publishing its findings
relating to details of the US torture of a British resident, the UK government has told
the British High Court.
According to the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the consequences of the
US threats if the British Court publishes its findings in the Binyam Mohamed case –
findings which all parties accept contain no security-sensitive information - would be
potentially deadly for ordinary British citizens.
The British charity Reprieve has today written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to
verify the Administration’s position. Clive Stafford Smith OBE, the Director of
Reprieve and a lawyer for Binyam Mohamed, wrote:
“I write as an American citizen to seek confirmation of an extraordinary claim made
by the British Government, regarding your stated willingness to put innocent British
lives at risk. I feel sure that this must be a mistake, but the media has been very
specific in its quotations, and the British judges have framed your view as being one
that is callous towards innocent people in the UK. “
“(This) is the question I put to you today, and I would be grateful for a plain answer:
Given that the UK is obliged under the Convention Against Torture to
investigate and reveal evidence of torture, and given that it is a criminal
offence under Section 52 of the International Criminal Courts Act to cover up
evidence of torture, is it really your position, and the position of the Obama
Administration, that you will put innocent British lives at risk by cutting
intelligence sharing, if an independent court in the UK publishes seven
paragraphs of its own judgment which contain nothing that implicates security
concerns, but rather contains only its findings of fact relating to crimes
committed by US personnel?
“I appreciate your assistance in this matter, which is of grave importance to the
British Court, to the people of the United Kingdom, and to Anglo-American relations.”
The case has created a scandal in the UK, with the US government perceived to be
bullying supposedly independent British judges. In London’s High Court on 29th July,
Lord Justice Thomas declared that the US view did not reflect any acceptable legal
principle, but rather reflected “the exercise of naked political power” – in the
vernacular, of ‘might-makes-right’.
In challenging the US position, Mr Vassall-Adams, the barrister for Guardian News
and Media Limited, remarked:
“…one thinks of the fact that the US and the UK fought alongside each other in
World War II, were key allies throughout the Cold War, that the UK is a key ally
of the US as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, then one
mentions Iraq, Afghanistan, international terrorism and the acceptance that the
UK is the US's key international intelligence ally, enjoying an exceptional
degree of co-operation enjoyed by less than a handful of other states, if…you
ask yourself would the US jeopardise all of that for seven paragraphs of the
court's judgment, moreover in a case that has already been very highly
publicised, in my submission it fails the common sense test.”
Should Secretary Clinton confirm Mr Miliband’s fears, the High Court may have no
choice but to bow to the threat and suppress the information, albeit with
considerable regret at the state of US-UK relations.
Clare Algar, the Executive Director of Reprieve said:
“If the Obama Administration is indeed levelling threats at innocent British citizens, it
is time to get seriously worried about the so-called ‘special relationship’.
“The United States must understand the importance of an independent judiciary, and
that one democracy cannot tell another how to administer its legal system.
“We sincerely hope Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s fears are misplaced or, if not,
that Secretary Clinton will see sense and withdraw this shocking threat to ordinary
British people.”
For more information please contact Katherine O’Shea at Reprieve’s Press
Office katherine.oshea@reprieve.org.uk 020 7427 1099/ 07931592674.
Notes for Editors:
REPRIEVE
Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from
death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the
frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve
promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and
saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working
on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA.
Reprieve’s current casework involves representing 33 prisoners in the US prison at
Guantánamo Bay, working on behalf of prisoners facing the death penalty, and conducting
ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the
so-called ‘war on terror.’
Reprieve
PO Box 52742
London EC4P 4WS
Tel: 020 7353 4640
Fax: 020 7353 4641
Email: info@reprieve.org.uk
Website: www.reprieve.org.uk
Reprieve is a charitable company limited by guarantee; Registered Charity No. 1114900
Registered Company No. 5777831 (England) Registered Office 2-6 Cannon Street London
EC4M 6YH; Chair: Lord Bingham; Patrons: Alan Bennett, Julie Christie, Martha Lane Fox,
Gordon Roddick, Jon Snow, Marina Warner
Katherine O'Shea
Reprieve
Tel: 020 7427 1099
Mob: 07931592674
www.reprieve.org.uk
Reprieve delivers justice and saves lives