Lawyers acting for a former UK resident, Ahmed Belbacha, have started high court proceedings to force the British government to disclose information that they say could free him from Guantánamo Bay and save his life.
According to the legal charity Reprieve and the law firm Leigh Day, Belbacha is in serious danger after a decision by the US courts to lift an injunction preventing his forced transfer to Algeria, where he faces 20 years' imprisonment and the prospect of torture.
They have repeatedly asked the UK government to help by offering him a safe home or disclosing crucial information to his defence team. The UK has repeatedly declined to co-operate, his lawyers say.
Belbacha was seized in Pakistan in 2001 and secretly flown to Guantánamo Bay in 2002. British officials, who his lawyers say were involved in his interrogation, have said that he was not a legal UK resident and had missed his asylum appeal. The appeal took place after his arrest.
He was cleared of all charges by the Bush administration but chose to stay in Guantánamo rather than return to Algeria, a country he originally fled after threats on his life by the terrorist group Groupe Islamique Armé.
He was convicted in absentia last year by an Algerian court which, after a secret trial in November, sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Reprieve said : "The trial lacked any semblance of recognisable legal process and appears to be retaliation against Ahmed for speaking out about Algeria. Since then, despite repeated requests and diligent investigation, Reprieve's lawyers have been unable to discover what Ahmed is supposed to have done, and no evidence has been produced to support his 'conviction'".
The Obama administration forcibly transferred a Guantánamo prisoner to Algeria this summer. That prisoner was promptly "disappeared" by the authorities for several days, and now faces terrorism charges, his lawyers say. They say Belbacha's fate is likely to be worse, as he is the only Algerian in Guantánamo to have been convicted in absentia.
According to a submission to the high court by Belbacha's lawyers, when he was detained in Afghanistan before being sent to Guantánamo, he was "severely beaten by US soldiers, sometimes whilst blindfolded … subjected to sleep deprivation, sexual humiliation and abuse, sensory deprivation, temperature extremes, dietary manipulation and the use of stress positions".
They add that the British officials who interrogated him must have been aware he was being mistreated, but did nothing to help him.
Reprieve's legal director and Ahmed's attorney, Cori Crider, said: "After all Ahmed has suffered in Guantánamo, it is unthinkable that he be returned to a country that seeks to abuse him further. Ahmed wants nothing more than to live a quiet life and that is the least he is owed. Sending Ahmed to Algeria would be his worst nightmare and a bitter betrayal. The UK holds the key to saving Ahmed from this fate".
Richard Stein of Leigh Day said: "Mr Belbacha faces a desperate situation with time ticking away. We have been forced to bring these proceedings on his behalf because the UK government has been dithering and refuses to confirm whether it will comply with its obligations to assist Mr Belbacha voluntarily".
Belbacha worked and studied English in Bournemouth for a number of years. During one Labour conference he was responsible for cleaning the hotel room of the then deputy prime minister, John Prescott. He has been offered a room in a flat by a Bournemouth resident, and the Massachusetts town of Amherst has offered him refuge, his lawyers said. The Guardian
