Britain discloses secret data on detainee abuse by U.S. agents

By GottaLaff

AP – In this file photo dated 2000 and released by the human rights and legal defense organization Reprieve

How many more like this are coming? You know there are classified reports galore, cover-ups, military commissions that convicted (and continue to convict) innocent prisoners or those whose tortured confessions were used against them. I could go on, and have (see below):

Britain was forced by an appeals court Wednesday to reveal a long-secret description of how a former terrorism suspect was beaten, shackled and deprived of sleep during interrogations by U.S. agents.

Ethiopia-born British resident Binyam Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002, and says he was tortured there and in Morocco before being flown to Guantanamo Bay and charged with plotting with al-Qaida to bomb American apartment buildings. [...]

Mohamed's lawyers claimed the seven paragraphs prove that the U.S. and British governments were complicit in extracting evidence against him through torture. [...]

The paragraphs posted on the Web site of the British Foreign Office after the court decision say Mohamed was subjected to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities," including sleep deprivation, shackling and threats resulting in mental stress and suffering, during interviews by U.S. authorities. [...]

The charges against Mohamed were later dropped.

He was one of the "lucky" ones.

"It shows the British authorities knew far more than they let on about Binyam Mohamed and how he was tortured in U.S. custody," she said. "It is clear from these seven paragraphs that our authorities knew very well what was happening to Mr. Mohamed. Our hands are very dirty indeed."

She said it is now evident that British authorities were complicit in the use of torture and benefited from it.

And, sadly, that's all that mattered to them.

*****

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.