18/10/2013 00:00
TW
0

by RAY FLEMING
DAVID Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary, was severely criticised by the High Court yesterday in a further development of the case of Binyamin Mohammed, a British resident, whose allegations that he was tortured in Pakistan with Britain's knowledge have been followed in this space since they were first made about a year ago.

Two High Court judges ruled that Mr Miliband acted in a way harmful to the rule of law by suppressing what the government knew about the illegal treatment of Mohammed while he was held captive in a secret prison in Pakistan.

The judges dismissed the Foreign Secretary's claim that disclosing the evidence would harm national security and threaten UK intelligence-sharing agreements with the United States. They ordered the release of a seven-page summary of what the CIA told UK officials about Binyamin Mohammed before he was interrogated by a MI6 officer in 2002 and said that there was a “compelling public interest” in disclosing what Mr Miliband had wanted to suppress. The language used by the judges to criticise the Foreign Secretary was unprecedented in its force and language. They insisted that an explanation should be forthcoming of “what the UK government actually knew about what was alleged to be cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.” Perhaps anticipating criticism that national security might have been at stake, the judges ruled that issues of “democratic accountability and the rule of law” are at issue. The government said it would appeal against the judgement.