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UK court to reconsider redacting ex-Guantanamo detainee ruling

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] London High Court judges Lord Justice Thomas and Mr. Justice Lloyd Jones agreed Wednesday to reconsider a February decision to redact information from a ruling about former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed. Several media groups had challenged the decision not to publicize information redacted from an August 2008 ruling that the UK Foreign Office must turn over evidence essential to Mohamed's defense. The groups argued that the judges' decision was based on comments from the previous administration of former US president George W. Bush, and not on discussions with the Obama administration. Mohamed's lawyers have also encouraged the judges to reconsider their decision, arguing that the redacted information contains important evidence about Mohamed's treatment in custody. An Obama administration official reportedly sent a letter to the UK government that was shared with the judges, arguing that publicizing the redacted information could still harm national security interests of both the US and the UK. Mohamed was returned to the UK in February after being held for nearly seven years. Mohamed was arrested and sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2004 on suspicion of war crimes in connection with his alleged involvement with al Qaeda attacks on the US. The charges against him were dismissed last October. Mohamed asserts that after he was arrested in Pakistan and turned over to US officials, he was then transferred to Moroccan agents who tortured him.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on May 07, 2009 (boomark / email).