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Guantanamo Bay Debate

October 28, 2004 12:00 AM
By Liz Lynne in European Parlaiment

Nearly 200 people including 9 British nationals have been released since the prison was created. This means all these people were held against their will for up to two years without being told why, they were tortured, denied access to family, friends or legal representation and in the end were not charged with any crime. How can any civilised, democratic society not only justify but also condone this? If a country like Iran did this to an American citizen I'm sure Bush would be the first to condemn them.

One of my constituents Moazzam Begg who was detained in Guantanamo Bay wrote a letter to his family, which got through uncensored. It details a string of abuses. This along with other evidence from former prisoners and people who have worked there paints a disturbing picture of what is going on. There must be an immediate independent investigation in to the allegations.

All the detainees at Guantanamo Bay have been held in unacceptable legal limbo for far too long.

They have been denied access to lawyers and they do not even know what charges if any they face. This flies in the face of International standards of justice and human rights. The detainees should be charged or released, and those who are charged with crimes should face a fair trial according to international standards of justice.

We cannot just blame America for eroding civil liberties. There have been 600 arrests in the UK under terrorism laws since September 11, 2001.

Only12 have resulted in a conviction. There has been a 300% increase in the number of Asian people stopped by police and we have our own version of Guantanamo Bay at Belmarsh Prison.

We are all agreed on the importance of fighting terrorism, but we cannot surrender the basic human rights and values Europe shares with America. If we do the terrorists will have won.

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