News from 2004

Law Lords say that detaining foreigners without trial under emergency anti-terror legislation breaks European human rights laws

David Blunkett has ordered the release of one of the detainees interned without charge under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. The man, an Algerian national known only as "D", has been held at Woodhill Prison near Milton Keynes for nearly 3 years. The Home Office has not given a detailed explanation for his release.

SACC is supporting an emergency protest ouside the Home Office in London today (4-5.30pm ). People of all communities will gather to express their deep concern at the erosion of civl liberties in this country as the government pursues its war against terrorism

Birmingham City Council has unanimously passed a resolution calling on the British government to demand the repatriation of the British citizens and British residents held at Guantanamo Bay.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that non-US nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay are entitled to challenge their detention in US courts. The ruling won't guarantee justice for the men, but it's a serious step forward in the worldwide struggle against detention without trial.

Writing in the New Statesman of 21 June, Mark Thomas calls for friends of the Kurds to express support for KONGRA-GEL, the People's Congress of Kurdistan, which was proscribed by the European Union in April as a terrorist organisation.

Following the recent revelations about torture at Guantanamo Bay, the Guantanamo Human Rights Commission is calling for Britons held there to be repatriated immediately.

The BNP's racist election leaflets (for the European elections) have been delivered in many parts of Scotland. We think that they are illegal and that the BNP should be prosecuted

Tarek Dergoul, a British citizen who was held at Guantanamo Bay for two years, has spoken to the Observer about the regime of beatings, humiliation and torture.

On April 19 2004 ten people - nine men and one woman were arrested in anti-terrorism raids in Manchester and elsewhere. But by the end of the month all the people arrested had been released without being charged with any terrorism offence.

A man detained at Belmarsh prison under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 has been released on bail on mental health grounds. The detainee, known only as "G", has been held without charge or trial since December 2001 and claimed his open-ended detention had made him mentally ill.

Eight men were arrested during "terrorism" raids in London on 30 March. A ninth, a 27-year-old, was arrested two days later in Crawley, West Sussex, and later released. Two of the men, a 21-year-old and a 19-year-old, were released on 8 April after questioning at Paddington Green Station. A large sack of fertiliser, said to be suitable for the manufacture of explosives, was recovered by police during the operation. No other bomb components were found.

An know only as "M" has been freed from detention under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001. He is the first person to win an appeal against detention without trial.

Scotland Against Criminalising Communities is outraged at the arrest last night of four of the five men who have just returned from Guantanamo Bay

Five men have returned to Britain from Guantanamo Bay. At least 7 other men from Britain - British citizens or long-term British residents - have been left to face a kangaroo court or indefinite detention.

A motion calling for an end to detention without trial was defeated in the House of Commons on 25^th February 2004. The motion was prompted by the recommendations of a committee of privy councillors (the Newton Committee) set up by parliament to review the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.

Scotland Against Criminalising Communities welcomes the announcement last week that five Britons being held at Guantanamo Bay are to return home. But we are deeply concerned about the fate of the other four British citizens and three British residents held there. We note that it is now an open secret that there is no evidence against any of the British detainees that would stand up in a British court.

Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) is calling for a parliamentary debate about the circumstances surrounding the arrest of 9 Algerian men last winter. The men, four from Scotland and five from London, were charged with terrorism offences in Edinburgh Sheriff Court. The charges were dropped in December 2003, almost a year after the arrests.SACC supports the motion tabled in the Scottish Parliament in December by Colin Fox MSP (SSP). The motion says that the issue "highlights the flaws in the Terrorism Act 2000" and that "much greater evidence should exist before any future arrests of this nature are made."

175 Westminster MPs and peers filed an brief with the US Supreme Court supporting the appeal by the Guantanamo Bay prisoners. They argued that the detainees should be allowed to challenge their detention before a civilian court.