Letter to The Guardian

Written by Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP and published in The Guardian on Thu 5th Apr 2007

Thankyou for publishing the M15 memo which makes clear that my constituent Jamil el-Banna's abduction and incarceration in Guantanamo came after they attempted to recruit him as an informer. The refusal of the UK government to get him out, as they have belatedly done for his friend Bisher al-Rawi, is absolutely shameful. The memo suggests it was accepted that he was not guilty of any terrorist offence, though even if he was, a charge and fair trial is the proper response.

On the M15 website, we learn through a message from the Home Secretary that "We….depend on the support and assistance of the general public." It is little incentive in the battle for hearts and minds to know that a rebuff to the Security Service will lead to extraordinary rendition, torture and indefinite detention. It is instructive to see revealed in all their stark baseness the persuasive tricks used by M15, in this case a scarcely-veiled threat that Jamil's non-cooperation would mean his bid for British citizenship being frustrated.

Individual MPs and peers at Westminster are active on the question of rendition and Guantanamo, not least Bisher's and Jamil's local MPs Ed Davey and Sarah Teather and Chair of the All-party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition Andrew Tyrie MP. The forthcoming report by the Intelligence and Security Committee may or may not be enlightening, given that it is not a parliamentary committee but reports to and is censured by the Prime Minister.

It is long overdue to have a full and independent enquiry into every aspect of the British government's shabby collusion with Bush's 5-year experiment in overthrowing the rule of law. But in the immediate future, we must keep up the pressure specifically to get Jamil and the 8 other UK legal residents out of Guantanamo.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Ludford MEP

Liberal Democrat MEP for London

Vice-chair, European Parliament temporary committee on extraordinary rendition, 2006-7