security - kidnapped by the state
WORKERS, APRIL 2004 ISSUE
The government is holding 14 people in Belmarsh and other high-security prisons solely on 'evidence' obtained under duress from those held illegally in the US camps at Guantanamo Bay.
Confessions made under torture are not valid in British law, despite the government's claims. The 14 have been detained without charge or trial, six of them for more than two years. In effect, the government has kidnapped them.
The US government has now released five British citizens whom it had kidnapped and held hostage at Guantanamo Bay for two years. Four British citizens are still being illegally held captive, with no protest by the Blair government. US forces have subjected all their captives to torture and cruel and degrading treatment.
US actions at Guantanamo Bay have made it now nearly impossible to try any of the captives fairly, whether they are terrorists or not. In this -- as in so much else -- Bush and Blair have made us less, not more, secure.