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14/06/2006
Saudi 'custody torture' case thrown out
Four men, three Britons and a Canadian, seeking leave to sue Saudi Arabian authorities for alleged torture while they were held in custody have had their case thrown out by the Law Lords.
The four, Sandy Mitchell, Les Walker, Ron Jones, and Canadian Bill Sampson, claimed they had been subjected to torture to extract confessions that they had been involved in a series of al-Qaeda bomb attacks in Riyadh the Saudi capital.
All were subsequently released by a Saudi Royal pardon in August 2003. But independent evidence has confirmed that the men had been beaten, deprived of sleep, and given drugs.
In 2004, the men had initially been granted permission to sue in the lower courts, but the Law Lords ruling has found in favour of a Saudi appeal against the initial finding that permitted them to sue.
The case, backed by human rights groups, will now be brought before the European Court of Human Rights.
Mr Sampson claimed today that the British government was complicit in "allowing their citizens to be tortured," while officials went to "cocktail parties."
The case is the first where the Law Lords have examined state immunity for a foreign country brought in a civil case alleging personal damages for torture.
The men claim they have not had justice and are determined to persue the case further.
(SP/KMcA)
The four, Sandy Mitchell, Les Walker, Ron Jones, and Canadian Bill Sampson, claimed they had been subjected to torture to extract confessions that they had been involved in a series of al-Qaeda bomb attacks in Riyadh the Saudi capital.
All were subsequently released by a Saudi Royal pardon in August 2003. But independent evidence has confirmed that the men had been beaten, deprived of sleep, and given drugs.
In 2004, the men had initially been granted permission to sue in the lower courts, but the Law Lords ruling has found in favour of a Saudi appeal against the initial finding that permitted them to sue.
The case, backed by human rights groups, will now be brought before the European Court of Human Rights.
Mr Sampson claimed today that the British government was complicit in "allowing their citizens to be tortured," while officials went to "cocktail parties."
The case is the first where the Law Lords have examined state immunity for a foreign country brought in a civil case alleging personal damages for torture.
The men claim they have not had justice and are determined to persue the case further.
(SP/KMcA)
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