The US has Gitmo. There are also variously described camps dotted throughout Europe. Australia has detention camps for so-called illegal migrants. There are many in the Oz camps, having been classified as refugees by the UN but detained indefinitely.
Now it's revealed that the Brits are in on the "act" of detaining people, without any charges levied, let alone a trial.
"On Wednesday, UK Defense Minister Philip Hammond confirmed that 80 or 90 Afghan men are being detained without charges at the UK-run Camp Bastion—a revelation that many are calling "illegal" with obvious parallels to the United States' Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.
According to lawyers representing eight of the detainees, a number of the men have been held for up to 14 months without charge or any indication of a trial date, and many others have not yet been allowed to consult a lawyer after months spent in prison.
"Our client has been held at Camp Bastion since August 2012. He has not been charged with any crime and has had no access to a lawyer so he can receive legal advice about his ongoing detention," said Rosa Curling, a lawyer with the firm Leigh Day, which is representing one 20-year-old detainee.
Camp Bastion is located in Afghanistan's Helmand province and is the largest British military base in the country, housing nearly 30,000 servicemen and women. According to the attorneys, the detainees were arrested by British soldiers during village raids in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
According to rules of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), within which the British forces in Afghanistan are operating, suspects can be legally detained for 96 hours except in "exceptional circumstances," during which they can be held for longer periods.
BBC News reports that legal documents seen by the news outlet suggest that the Afghans are being held at the base in a temporary holding facility, despite previous claims by the UK's Ministry of Defense that ISAF has "neither the power nor the facilities to intern detainees in Afghanistan."
"This is a secret facility that's been used to unlawfully detain or intern up to 85 Afghans that they've kept secret, that Parliament doesn't know about, that courts previously when they have interrogated issues like detention and internment in Afghanistan have never been told about - completely off the radar," said attorney Phil Shiner.
"It is reminiscent of the public's awakening that there was a Guantanamo Bay," he continued. "And people will be wondering if these detainees are being treated humanely and in accordance with international law."
Now it's revealed that the Brits are in on the "act" of detaining people, without any charges levied, let alone a trial.
"On Wednesday, UK Defense Minister Philip Hammond confirmed that 80 or 90 Afghan men are being detained without charges at the UK-run Camp Bastion—a revelation that many are calling "illegal" with obvious parallels to the United States' Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility.
According to lawyers representing eight of the detainees, a number of the men have been held for up to 14 months without charge or any indication of a trial date, and many others have not yet been allowed to consult a lawyer after months spent in prison.
"Our client has been held at Camp Bastion since August 2012. He has not been charged with any crime and has had no access to a lawyer so he can receive legal advice about his ongoing detention," said Rosa Curling, a lawyer with the firm Leigh Day, which is representing one 20-year-old detainee.
Camp Bastion is located in Afghanistan's Helmand province and is the largest British military base in the country, housing nearly 30,000 servicemen and women. According to the attorneys, the detainees were arrested by British soldiers during village raids in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
According to rules of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), within which the British forces in Afghanistan are operating, suspects can be legally detained for 96 hours except in "exceptional circumstances," during which they can be held for longer periods.
BBC News reports that legal documents seen by the news outlet suggest that the Afghans are being held at the base in a temporary holding facility, despite previous claims by the UK's Ministry of Defense that ISAF has "neither the power nor the facilities to intern detainees in Afghanistan."
"This is a secret facility that's been used to unlawfully detain or intern up to 85 Afghans that they've kept secret, that Parliament doesn't know about, that courts previously when they have interrogated issues like detention and internment in Afghanistan have never been told about - completely off the radar," said attorney Phil Shiner.
"It is reminiscent of the public's awakening that there was a Guantanamo Bay," he continued. "And people will be wondering if these detainees are being treated humanely and in accordance with international law."
Comments