A British court ordered Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday to disclose secret documents that could prove critical to the defense of a Guantanamo Bay detainee who claims he was tortured while in U.S. custody on terrorism charges.
Miliband now has a week to decide whether to comply with the order to release of the documents pertaining to Binyam Mohamed's detention. The British government has argued the release of the documents could compromise national security, and it could appeal the court order.
The High Court made the ruling in the case of Mohamed, who was captured in Pakistan in April 2002 and accused of conspiring with al-Qaida leaders to attack civilians. His lawyers say the British government is withholding information about his treatment in U.S. custody which is critical to his hope of receiving a fair trial.
The information held by the foreign secretary is not merely necessary, but essential, if Binyam Mohamed is to have his case fairly considered, Judge John Thomas wrote in the 75-page judgment.
Mohamed claims he was transferred illegally from Pakistan to Morocco after his arrest and alleges he was tortured during his 18 months in detention. Neither the United States nor Britain has disclosed any information about his time in custody until he arrived at Guantanamo Bay in 2004.
His lawyers have argued any evidence the U.S. has for holding Mohamed, a British resident, came through medieval torture in Morocco.
According to Mohamed's account, obtained by The Associated Press in 2006, torturers sliced his penis with a scalpel and threatened to sever his private parts. Mohamed claims he was beaten, deprived of sleep and given mind-altering drugs.
The crux of Mohamed's High Court case was that the British government knew of his detention but failed to ensure he was treated fairly. The court sided squarely with Mohamed's attorneys and ruled he had a right to any information Britain might have on his case.
We believe there will be information helping to corroborate Binyan Mohamed's story, said Richard Stein, one of Mohamed's attorneys. He says it was during this time that he was tortured and this will obviously affect his case.
The lawyers hope to prove Mohamed was detained and interrogated under conditions that constitute torture and would therefore not be admissible at his military war crimes trial in Guantanamo.
Prosecutors have prepared charges against Mohamed, but they must be approved by Susan Crawford, a U.S. Defense Department official who oversees the military commissions. The Pentagon said Crawford was still reviewing the charges and information provided by the defense.
U.S. Department of Defense spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith declined to speak about the high court decision, saying it would be inappropriate to comment about another country's court rulings.
She added that the U.S. does not condone torture and did not transfer detainees to countries where it believes they are more likely than not to be tortured. She refused to say whether Mohamed was ever taken to Morocco or, if so, whether he was American custody at the time.
