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A file photo of Belmarsh prison, Britain's Guantanamo
Bay
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LONDON,
December 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a severe jolt
to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's draconian “anti-terror”
measures, the House of Lords ruled Thursday, December 16, that detention
of foreign “terror suspects” without trial was illegal.
In
an 8-1 vote, the Law Lords said detention of foreign “terror
suspects” without trial were incompatible with the European Convention
on Human Rights as they gave the green light for detentions in a way
that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status.
“The
measures are unjustifiably discriminatory against foreign nationals,”
Lord Thomas Bingham, head of the 9-judge panel was quoted by Reuters, as
telling the parliament.
London
argues that detention without trial is the only way to deal with foreign
suspects who refuse to leave voluntarily but cannot be deported because
they face death or mistreatment in their home countries.
Lord
Nicholls of Birkenhead said the indefinite imprisonment without charge
or trial is anathema in any country which observes the rule of law, the
BBC News Online reported.
“It
deprives the detained person of the protection a criminal trial is
intended to afford,” he added.
Senior
British parliamentarians admitted last August that anti-terrorism laws
are being used
“disproportionately” against Muslims.
Britain's
Home Secretary David Blunkett, who championed the strict anti-terror
measures, resigned Wednesday, December 15, over allegations that he fast
tracked a visa for his lovers nanny.
Detainees
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Blunkett was the champion of the anti-terror draconian
measures
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The
Law Lords gave the ruling after nine Muslim detainees held in the
British Belmarsh prison, dubbed as Britain's Guantanamo Bay, took their
case to the House of Lords following the ruling of the Court of Appeal
on backing the Home Office's measures to hold them without charges.
Ben
Emmerson QC, representing seven of the detainees, said the men had
already been in custody for nearly three years without charges.
He
added that they had never been formally interviewed or there was no
prospect they would ever be put on trial, the BBC News Online said.
Commenting
on the ruling, detainee “A” in Woodhill Prison expressed hope the
British government would scrap its illegal measures and set them free.
“I
hope now that the government will act upon this decision, scrap this
illegal 'law' and release me and the other internees to return to our
families and loved ones.”
However,
a Home Office spokesman said the detainees would remain behind bars
while British parliament looked at the law, which gives police powers to
detain indefinitely, without trial, foreign nationals suspected of being
involved in terror activities.
Muslims
in Britain are already complaining that they are maltreated
by police under the Terrorism Act for no apparent reason other
than being Muslim, citing the routine stop-and-search operations.
Setback
Wyn
Grant, Warwick University professor of politics told Reuters the ruling
is a very major setback for the British government strategy on
terror-combat.
“Blair’s
analysis is that other parties of the center-left in Europe have been
outflanked by the right on security issues and therefore he has always
been very anxious to prevent that happening in the UK.”
Amnesty
International welcome the ruling as a message to the British government
on illegality of its anti-terror measures.
“It's
a very firm, hugely clear message by the Law Lords to the government
saying people are being held illegally,” said Kate Allen, head of
Amnesty International's UK branch.
