04/05/2006

UK Guantanamo pair lose case

Two UK residents being detained in Britain have lost their legal challenge to force the British government to help petition the US for their freedom.

Jamil el Banna and Omar Deghayes had gone to the High Court to challenge Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's decision not to intervene on their behalf. They had argued that Mr Straw's decision was "legally unsustainable".

However, the government argued that because the men were not British nationals, they had no legal right to assistance.

Mr el Banna is a Jordanian national, who had been living in London, while Mr Deghayes was born in Libya and came to Britain in the 1980s.

Human rights lawyers acting for the men said that there was "compelling evidence" that the men had been "severely tortured" and endured "inhuman and degrading treatment" at the US detention camp in Cuba.

However, Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Tugendhat rejected the men's application for a judicial review.

Another man, Iraqi-born businessman Bisher al Rawi, had been part of the original appeal. Mr al Rawi, who came to Britain in 1985, is now having his case considered separately. At an earlier hearing, judges were told that circumstances in his case had made the Foreign Secretary decide to make a "specific, security-related request" to the US government.

(KMcA)

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