Civil liberties - new material (56)
01 August 2004
When push comes to Shove off, Mark Curtis.
Red Pepper issue 124 (October) 2004, pp. 17. Article on the people of the Chagos Islands, "whom in the 1960s and 1970s the British had evicted from their Indian Ocean archipelago to make way for a US military base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia." The government has recently announced two "orders in council" banning the Chagossians from returning, overturning a November 2000 High Court ruling that the islanders should be allowed to resettle their homeland. There are an estimated 1,400 US military personnel, 1,800 civilian workers and 40 UK armed forces personnel currently on the island. Despite this, Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell, argues that the situation is too "precarious" for resettlement.
Text of Amnesty International submission to House of Lords opposing indefinite detention.
Amnesty International (EUR 45/027/2004) 4 October 2004, pp.20. AI's submission to the House of Lords, opposing the indefinite detention of detainees under the ATCSA. Available at: http://web.amnesty.org
Identity cards.
SCOLAG Legal Journal No. 323 (September) 2004, pp.163-164. The Scottish Legal Action Group oppose the creation of a national database on general principal because, "such a scheme will not solve any of the general problems which are said to be the justification for its introduction" and is "likely to have a disproportionate impact on the most disadvantaged members of society...". This article examines the issues of scrutiny, accuracy, disclosure, financial penalties and identity theft.
Guantanamo's torture regime is a shameful disgrace, Vanessa Redgrave.
Independent 23.8.04. The distinguished actress and political campaigner discusses the complicity of the British establishment, MI5, the SAS and Foreign Office, in aiding and abetting the torture of British prisoners held by the USA at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Her perspective is based on a document compiled by the lawyers, Birnberg, Peirce & Partners, from the statements made by three British citizens who were released without charge in March. Redgrave concludes by saying: "In the name of security, our Government is destroying the principles and the laws which are the foundations of the security of all citizens; these principals were proclaimed by the American Patriots in their Declaration of Independence and after the war, in their constitution which also prohibits cruel and degrading treatment. It is a spine-chilling disgrace that the Blair government has supported the Guantanamo torture regime, and agreed to the pre-tribunal hearings that have been repudiated by US civil rights lawyers and human rights NGOs."