Belmarsh-Guantanamo-Abu Ghraib:
axis of evil, access to torture

See press release
See pictures and a report from the protest
Press coverage included all the main TV and radio stations and various written reports including in The Scotsman, the BBC website, Al-Jazeera, The Guardian and Reuters
See details of other recent protests including the protest at Belmarsh in April 2004
Sign the petition

Protest against internment

Protest against the internments at Belmarsh prison, Sunday 3 October 2004, from 12 noon

With speakers, live performance and signing of expressions of solidarity with the detainees being held without trial.

Tell the Law Lords: No to Internment, No to Torture!

Bruce Kent addresses the crowd outside Belmarsh Prison. See more pictures.

NO JUSTICE:
Britain continues to hold 14 foreign nationals who have never been charged with any offence. The supposed evidence against them remains secret. They were never questioned by the police. They have not been put on trial.

These men are detained under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which allows the Home Secretary to detain indefinitely any foreign nationals if he has 'reasonable suspicion' that they have links with 'international terrorism'.  At hearings last year, the government acknowledged that some of the 'evidence' could have been obtained by torturing detainees elsewhere, e.g. Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

Partly on those grounds, the legal basis has been challenged by the detainees' lawyers.  In August a 2-1 majority on the High Court ruled that evidence from torture could be admissible, even if UK agents were present, provided that they did not carry it out.  Clearly this gives a green light to torture around the world.  The High Court judgement will be reviewed by the Law Lords, starting on 4 October.  Hence our protest on the day before.

Most of the internees are being held in high security at HMP Belmarsh, in cells described as 'concrete coffins' and in conditions which are tantamount to torture. It is cruel and inhuman treatment to keep people locked up in isolation, without any prospect of release or trial, and without telling them why they are detained or when they might be released. The psychological pressure they are suffering is immense (one detainee is now in Broadmoor).

CAMPACC demands the immediate release of those detained without trial or charge them and conduct a fair trial.

BELMARSH PRISON IS BRITAIN'S GUANTANAMO

This event is sponsored by:
Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC), Liberty, Stop Political Terror, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, John Austin MP, CARF, Peace and Justice in East London, Sutton for Peace and Justice; The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, Association of Muslim Lawyers, The Green Party of England and Wales, Voices UK and the comedian broadcaster Mark Thomas.

Speakers include:
Ashfaq Ahmed, Baba Ahmed's father; Shami Shakrabarti, director of Liberty; Gareth Peirce, human rights lawyer; Victoria Brittain, writer and journalist; Jean Lambert MEP; Dr Adnan Siddiqui, Stop Political Terror; Dr G. Siddiqui, Leader of the Muslim Parliament; Saghir Hussein,  Association of Muslim Lawyers; Tim Gopsill, National Union of Journalists; Harmit Athwal, CARF; Desiree Howells, Peace & Justice in East London; Paul Donovan, journalist; Nasser Butt, Chair of Liberal Democrat Muslim Forum.

Come and protest at Belmarsh; let the detainees know that they have not been forgotten!
We will also be writing messages to the detainees which will be passed on to them by their lawyers.

Directions & trains:
Belmarsh prison is on Western Way, London, SE28, just north of Plumstead station. Trains leave every half-hour (e.g. 11.01am, 11.31am) from Charing Cross to Plumstead station, arriving a half-hour later. Trains stop on the way at London Bridge and Greenwich. From East London, you can connect via the DLR going from Stratford to Greenwich stations.

Contact: CAMPACC, Estella on 020 7586 5892, estella24@tiscali.co.uk
or Stop Political Terror  on 0795 115 9257 spt622@yahoo.co.uk

JUSTICE FOR UK DETAINEES

Pictures of the protest

Despite bad weather and engineering works on all the train lines, a few hundred people managed to get down to Belmarsh prison in south-east London on 3 October to protest against the internment of 14 foreign nationals by the British Government and to say a resounding No! to the use of evidence in court gained by torture. The protest was taking place the day before the Law Lords begin their review of the Government's anti-terrorist measures.

The press was very interested in the event and members of CAMPACC and supporting organisations took part in numerous media interviews which appeared throughout the day on many TV and radio stations.

Gareth Pierce, solicitor to a number of the detainees addresses the crowd.

Ashfaq Ahmed, Baba Ahmed's father, spoke about his son's situation and read a poem called 'Freedom' that his son has written. Baba Ahmed was re-arrested in August 2004 on an extradition warrant from the US. Baba was orgininally arrested in December 2003 but was released after no evidence was found with which to charge him. He was badly beaten by the police. Babar Ahmad remains in custody at HM Prison Woodhill, pending a main extradition hearing in late 2004/early 2005, following which he may be extradited to the US to face a possible 50 years to life imprisonment. However, he still does not face any charges under British Law and he may be extradited without ever having the chance to challenge any evidence presented by the US against him. See Stop Political Terror for more info.