Publish Secret 'Torture' Documents, MPs Tell Obama

[babylonsister]

Publish Secret 'Torture' Documents, MPs Tell Obama

Cross-party group of British politicians writes to US president as David Miliband defends himself over Mohamed case

by Richard Norton-Taylor


A cross-party coalition of MPs and human-rights campaigners has written to Barack Obama calling on him to publish secret documents that allegedly contain evidence of US and British complicity in torture.

The move came as David Miliband, the foreign secretary, defended his position on the Guardian website over the suppression of evidence of the torture of Binyam Mohamed, the former UK resident held in Guantánamo Bay.

"Far from suppressing evidence, it was our efforts that got documents disclosed to Mr Mohamed's lawyers," Miliband wrote. He was referring to the handing over of 42 US intelligence documents to Mohamed's lawyers for the purposes of a secret military trial in the US.

The lawyers have had to sign an order that they would not disclose the contents of the documents. The high court in London has made it clear that it believes that what it calls the "powerful evidence" ought to be disclosed. The judges said they could not order the disclosure because, according to Miliband, the US said it was likely to cause "real damage" to British and American national security and harm intelligence-sharing between the two countries.

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/19-3