BRITAIN: Legal challenges by 10 men, suspected of being international terrorists and interned without trial for almost two years under the British government's anti-terror laws, were dismissed yesterday by two panels of judges.
In all the cases, panels of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission decided that the Home Secretary had "reasonable grounds" for suspecting the individuals had links with terrorism - mainly via north African Islamic groups - and was justified in holding them.
The decisions were immediately welcomed by Mr David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, who said the result sent "a clear signal to international terrorists that the UK is a very difficult place for them to plan terrorist attacks, whether from here or from abroad".
But civil liberties groups quickly challenged the government to prosecute the men openly.
"If they [the Home Office] are so convinced these men . . . are involved in terrorism, why will they not put them on trial? Is it because they know that this so-called evidence has been obtained from prisoners tortured by the secret police of countries regarded as friendly to Britain but with a proven record of human rights abuse?" said Ms Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty.
Meanwhile, Ms Gareth Peirce, solicitor for many of the men, told the appeals commission that "secrecy has been chosen over due process and is a dangerous precedent for the future". The 10 men were amongst 16 interned under the controversial Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, which came into force shortly after the September 11th attacks. They have generally been held in high-security jails since December 2001, although two have chosen to leave the UK.
Part of the evidence against them was submitted in private and not even revealed to them or their lawyers. Even yesterday, only two appellants were named - Mr Jamal Ajouaou and Mr Mahmoud Suliman Ahmed Abu Rideh.
The government's case against several of the defendants is based on suspicion of their association with known terrorists, revealing the difficulty the authorities have had in building strong cases.