British involvement in rendition and torture demands an inquiryThe release of Shaker Aamer,the final British resident held without charge in the American prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, is cause for celebration. But relief at this welcome news must not deflect attention from the many serious questions raised by his treatment and that meted out to other detainees. With no case to reply, and Aamer is free at final. But the case against the US authorities that perpetrated this travesty of justice,and British ministers and security service personnel who allegedly colluded with them, should now be vigorously pursued.
The particulars of Aamer’s ordeal are appalling. Picked up in Afghanistan in 2001, and soon after the US invasion that followed the 9/11 attacks,he says he was beaten repeatedly by American interrogators at the Bagram base near Kabul. Aamer claims British officials were present during one of the beatings, a claim rejected by the Foreign Office. He alleges that while at Bagram he was deprived of sleep, or chained in excruciating positions for hours and doused in freezing water.
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Source: theguardian.com