No chance of fair trial for Guantanamo detainees

Written by Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP and published in The Guardian on Mon 28th Jun 2004

Sir, It is welcome that Peter Goldsmith has finally had the guts to say publicly that there is no prospect of a fair trial for Guantanamo prisoners under Bush's military commissions. But the British government should, in conjunction with other EU governments, put real pressure on the US to return Europeans incarcerated there.

At their recent summit, EU prime ministers said that Europeans turn to the EU "to deliver justice and home affairs based on our shared values of liberty, respect for human rights."

When I recently met the junior foreign minister Chris Mullin, he said he would have to write to me as he had no idea if the EU had made firm representations to the US about the unacceptability of detention of European nationals or residents. I look forward to his letter.

My understanding is Europe's foreign ministers have not even discussed it. My guess is that the UK would have vetoed any move to put it on the agenda. What is the point of EU so-called common foreign and human rights policies if they are a dead letter? This only generates cynicism and disillusion.

If we want a mission to inspire public confidence in the EU's relevance, how about some loud, united protests - even sanctions - to uphold "our common values"?

Sarah Ludford MEP

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