Reprieve Submits FOIA Request Calling On Irish Taoiseach To Provide Evidence Of Guantánamo Bay Prisoner Binyam Mohamed’s Rendition To Torture
02.09.08
Legal action charity Reprieve has written to Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen and submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request calling for information regarding the rendition to torture by the CIA of Binyam Mohamed. On two occasions, CIA planes and crew that delivered Mr Mohamed to torture in secret prisons in Morocco and Afghanistan stopped overnight in Shannon. A British resident, Mr Mohamed has been held since September 2004 in Guantánamo Bay.
? The notorious CIA rendition plane N379P stopped in Shannon on 22 July 2002 carrying crew who had just illegally rendered Mr Mohamed to 18 months of torture in a Moroccan secret prison. The crew stayed overnight, leaving on the 23 July 2002 for Washington.
? On 16 January 2004, CIA rendition plane N313P stopped in Shannon on the way to pick up Mr Mohamed from his Moroccan jail and then illegally render him to the ‘Dark Prison,’ a secret underground prison outside Kabul, Afghanistan. Again, the crew stayed overnight, leaving Shannon on 17 September 2004.
Mr Mohamed potentially faces the death penalty at the hands of a patently unjust military court system in Guantánamo Bay. Charges against him rest on false confessions extracted under torture in secret prisons, yet the United States refuses to reveal any information as to Mr Mohamed’s whereabouts and treatment from 2002-2004.
“Revealing information that can prove Mr Mohamed’s innocence is one obvious step the Irish Government can take towards making up for involvement in Mr Mohamed’s rendition to torture” said Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve.
“Mr Mohamed already faces an uphill battle in unjust military courts. The Irish government has the chance to help him prove his torture and his innocence, and perhaps save his life. I hope they will do all in their power to investigate this matter and present any evidence speedily.”
Reprieve previously wrote to Mr Cowen, on 25 July 2008, requesting evidence in relation to Mr Mohamed’s case. Reprieve received a response on 13 August 2008 which stated that “the Irish Government is completely opposed to the appalling practice of so-called extraordinary rendition,” yet failed to provide any concrete information regarding Mr Mohamed’s renditions. Therefore, Reprieve followed up on 29 August 2008.
Read the letter to Taoiseach Brian Cowen |
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