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CAMPAIGN AGAINST CRIMINALISING COMMUNITIES
News Bulletin January - March 2004
Terrorism comes to Istanbul
The terrorist attacks carried out in November against British and
Jewish targets claimed over 50 lives and put the government to
the test of maintaining the image created as a stable state.
The attacks which were claimed by Turkish groups linked to Al-Qaeda
raised concerns about the security issue in Turkey and specially
with its borders with Iraq where the Kurdish region lies. The
fact that the government is not in control over its borders in
the Kurdish areas causes concern over the import of terrorism
to Turkey.
Middle East Risk Monitor, January
US to release jailed Britons soon PM says
Tony Blair insisted that a deal is soon to be reached with US on
British Guantanamo detainees.
Independent, 12 January
Bullets carried on flight from US
A man was detained yesterday under the Terrorism Act 2000 after
landing at Heathrow from Washington's Dulles Airport. The Sudanese
man went through the scanning process in the US before departing
and is said to have gone through a human lapse in concentration.
The US security personnel said to be using a personality profile
method to classify the risk factor for passengers where a green
label is used for safe customers whilst the orange calls for
rigorous checks with the red one matching for means no permission
to fly.
Guardian, 15 January
Iraq protesters sue police
The anti-war protesters who were prevented from demonstrating by
the Gloucestershire police on 22 March 2003 at a US airbase have
brought High Court action against the same police force. Jane
Laporte and others boarded on coaches from Euston and the coaches
were stopped 10 miles from the base and forcefully returned back
to Euston with a police escort. The fact that the police used
the anti-terror legislation against the coach passengers and
prevented them from protesting was the subject of the Judicial
Review application lodged by the coach passengers. The case continues
today.
Guardian, 16 January
Saudis find Al-Qaeda training camp
The Saudi authorities confirmed that they found training camps
for Al-Qaeda in the remote parts of the country. The camps were
run by two militants who died during the clashes last year with
the Saudi forces, Turki Nasser al-Dandani and Youssef Salih al-Ayeeri.
The authorities previously denied the existence of the Al-Qaeda
camps but now accept the fact. It is believed that about 800
Al-Qaeda suspects have been questioned in Saudi Arabia up to
now and that the new leader of the Saudi Al-Qaeda is Abd al-Aziz
al-Miqrin.
Guardian, 16 January
The US military lawyer assigned to defend the man dubbed
the ‘Australian
Taleban’ has complained that his client will not receive
a full and fair trial
Major Michael Mori who is appointed to defend David Hicks, a Guantanamo
detainee, in a US military court says that the court that will
try him will not give him fair trial. Mr Mori said that due to
the fact the detainee is not charged with anything the defence
will find it difficult to prepare and that the ones who are to
try him have a vested interest in getting him convicted. The Australian
Attorney General on the other hand does not want him to be transferred
to Australia as they have no legal framework to subject him under
the current Australian legal system. The Attorney General however
believed that Mr Hicks has a case to answer.
BBC News, 22 January
The UK took more asylum seekers in 2002 than any other country
in the developed world, a report claimed
117 700 asylum claims that the British authorities received have
made the country be the 1st in total numbers received among the
western world. The US, France and Germany all fell behind the UK
in numbers they received.
BBC News, 22 January
This Covert experiment in injustice
Blunkett’s proposal for secret trials will shame the countryIn
the course of 12 months over 13 years ago, more than 20 innocent
Irish men were branded as ‘terrorists’ and convicted
by the English courts. Now once again David Blunkett is proposing
trials based on evidence that will never see the light of day,
the abolition of juries, substitution of judges, and reversal of
the burden of proof so that suspicion is enough. Blunkett proposes
to substitute juries where terrorism is in question. We should
not be deceived by what is happening in Guantanamo: what is happening
is in the secret hearings with foreign nationals is already taking
place in this country: The imprisonment in 1974 is a badge of shame
on this country and , the men and women who will be detained or
convicted today will never have the possibility of knowing, let
alone undergoing , the false testimony that buried them alive.
Guardian, 4 February
Asia Warned on New terror attack
New terrorist attacks on the Asia-Pacific region are ‘inevitable’,
an anti-terrorism meeting has been told. Australia’s foreign
minister Alexander Downer stated that the Jemahh Islamiah (JI)
has been weakened by a series of arrests but it has not been fully
disabled and that ‘key operatives are still at large’.
The minister said that the JI group has been disrupted through
capturing and detaining over 200 members.
BBC News, 4 February
Plans to make it easier to convict British terror suspects have
been condemned by a group of leading barristers
David Blunkett is considering non-jury trials, which would happen
in secret. The Home Office has not made any decisions. Five barristers,
who will be expected to play a central role in the plans, have
described it as’untenable’; they also indicated they
will refuse to take part. Civil rights groups are also against
the proposal.
BBC News, 6 February
September 11 terror suspect acquitted by Hamburg court
A Moroccan student was cleared of assisting the September 11 attacks
, in a ruling which is set to increase pressure on the US to
allow detained al-Qaeda suspects to give evidence in terrorist
trials. Abdelghani Mzoudi was cleared of more than 3,000 counts
of being accessory to murders as there was insufficient evidence
to prove that he knew that the hijackers were planning the attacks.
The presiding judge stated that the refusal of the US authorities
to allow evidence from al-Qaeda figures in US custody to be heard
had made conviction extremely difficult. The representative of
families of victims of September 11 attacks said that he was
shocked by the US Justice Department's decision to withhold information
from the court. The judge also said that Mr Mzoudi knew the hijackers
and had attended an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan but there was
not enough evidence to prove he helped directly plan the 2001
attacks.
FT, 6 February
Kurds Blame al-Qa’ida for suicide bombing in Arbil
The last week's attacks in Arbil killed 101 people and injured
200 people which also included senior figures of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party. It has been the largest suicide bombing since
the occupation began and the last place that anybody expected.
It was carried out by two suicide bombers who had explosive-packed
belts. A clear image of one suicide bomber was picked up by the
security cameras. The Kurdish authorities claim that it is clear
from the images that the man is of a non-Iraqi Arab origin.
There have been claims for the attacks by Jaish Ansar al-Sunna
which the Kurdish authorities claim is a front for Ansar al Islam
which is accused of having links with Al-Qai'da.
Independent, 9 February
An Exercise to see how the Welsh would cope with a major incident
like a terrorist attack has been held in North Wales.
An industrial site in Wrexham was sealed off for an operation.
The aim of the test was how well the blue light services (ambulance,
police and fire) would work with the army if a major incident occurs.
The exercise involved 250 people and the exercise was a practice
and that there is no evidence that the town would be in a similar
incident in real life. The exercise went well.
BBC News, 9 February
Spain Seeks Terror Suspect
Extradition planned for ‘al-Qaeda’ Briton held in USSpain
will today request the extradition of a London businessman being
held without charge at Guantanamo Bay.Jamil Abdul Latif al-Banna
was arrested in Gambia in November 2002, along with three other
London businessmen. Madrid will request he be sent to Spain. He
is accused of links to an al-Qaida terror cell.The British government
has been accused of abandoning Mr Banna, who was granted refugee
status in the UK in 2000, after he claimed that he was fleeing
persecution from his native Jordan.
Guardian, 13 February
Counter-terrorism spies to be increased by 50%
The growing diversity of the terrorst threat to Britain has prompted
plans to increase the number of MI5 agents by 50% to 3,000.The
agency will launch a recruitm,ent drive immediately, seeking
recruits from ethnic minorities and those with skills in Arabic
and other languages widely spoken within Islamic terrorist groups.
Financial Times, 23 February
Amnesty barred from Guantanamo trials
Amnesty International and two other leading human rights organisations
are protesting to the Pentagon about its decision not to let
them attend the planned trials of al-Qaeda suspects.
Guardian, 24 February
First Guantanamo inmates charged
The Pentagon has announced the first charges against foreign detainees
at Guantanamo bay in Cuba.Two men, alleged to have been key al-Qaeda
members, have been charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes.The
Pentagon named them as Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul of
Yemen and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi of Sudan.They will be
tried by a military tribunal, but the US government will not
seek the death penalty if they are convicted.
BBC News Online, 25 February
Blunkett gets tough over terror
The home secretary is preparing to unveil new anti-terror measures,
thought to include the use of secretly-taped phone calls as evidence.Other
changes are predicted to include the hearing of parts of some
trials in secret, without a jury.David Blunkett told Newsnight
he had been told it was inevitable the UK would face a terrorist
attack.
BBC News Online, 25 February
£1 million terrorism case is thrown out by judge
Countinuing proceedings against six for campaigning human rights
in Turkey would bring British justice into disrepute, DPP is
toldA terrorist prosecution estimated to have cost up to £1m
collapsed yesterday when a crown court judge threw out the case
against six activists for human rights in Turkey.Judge Richard
Howorth at Kingston crown court, west London, said: ‘Were
this prosecution to continue, it would bring the administration
of justice into disrepute among right-thinking people and offend
this court’s sense of propriety and justice.’
Guardian, 2 March
First and only 9/11 conviction overturned by German court
A
German court yesterday overturned the world’s only conviction with
the September 11 attacks and ordered the retrial of a Moroccan
found guilty of helping the Hamburg cell of suicide hijackers.In
a blow to US efforts to bring those responsible for the attacks
to justice, the court said that Mounir El Motassadeq’s conviction
was flawed.
Guardian, 5 March
Guantanamo families seek justice in US
Detainee’s father condemns leak from Bush camp claiming son
trained with al-Qaida.
The father of a British terror suspect held
in Guantanamo Bay yesterday denounced a leak from the Bush administration
which alleged his son trained at an al-Qaida training camp.Azmat
Begg, 65, was in the US capital as part of a campaign for justice
for the four remaining Britons held without cahrge or access to
a lawyer for up to two years.
Guardian, 9 March
Guantanamo Bay five to arrive back in Britain today
Five British prisoners who have been held without trial at G Bay
for two years are expected to arrive home today.The group, all
suspected of terrorist links by the US authorities but never
charged, will be released from the high-security camp in Cuba
and flown to Britain in a military transport aircraft to RAF
Northolt.
Evening Standard, 9 March
Freed Briton tells of beatings and mental torture at Camp Delta
A Briton released after more than two years at Guantanamo bay told
of the beatings and psycological torture he faced at the hands
of the American military.Jamal al-Harith, 37-year-old website
designer, claims his captors forced the most devout Muslims to
watch prostitutes and described vicious attacks by US soldiers
that left him and other inmates black and blue.He said inmates
were not given access to clean water, being forced to drink water
which was either murky and yellow or ‘black - the colour
of Coca-Cola’. He also claims they were fed meals that
were up to 10 years past their sell-by date.
Evening Standard, 12 March
Terror tribunal member quits over Blunkett
A member of the special tribunal that judges cases involving terrorist
suspects detained without charge or trial has told the Guardian
he has resigned because the body had become ‘virtually
powerless’. Sir Brian Barder, a lay person sitting on the
Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), said he ‘could
not conscientiously play any further part’ because the
home secretary did not ‘have to prove anything against
the person he wants to deport’.
Guardian, 16 March
Rights again under scrutiny
Spain has been among the most forceful of European governments
in introducing tough laws in an attempt to curb terrorist activity.
Jose Maria Aznar’s government put into place laws allowing
suspects to be detained without the right to see a lawyer, and
enabling trials to be held in secret following detention of up
to four years.Ant-terrorist courts can deny defence lawyers access
to evidence held by the prosecution.
FT, 16 March
US anti-terrorist strategy of force ‘is not sufficient’
omano Prodi, European Commission president, claimed yesterday that
the Madrid atrocities showed the US strategy of using force to
defeat terrorism was insufficient, and that the EU needed its
own response. Mr Prodi said Europe needed also to focus on ‘soft
security’ and work to develop co-operation with neighbouring
countries.
FT, 16 March
Madrid bomb suspect linked to UK extremists
The Metropolitan police and security services were last night investigating
links between a prime suspect in the Madrid bombings and Islamist
extremists in London.A senior police source told the Guardian
there were definite links between terrorists in the two cities.
Intelligence officers also believe that Jamal Zougam, arrested
by Spanish police in connection with the bombings, has contacts
with a number of individuals of north African origin who are
at large in the UK.
Guardian, 17 March
‘Attack on London is inevitable’
London’s police chief warned yesterday of the ever-widening
terrorist threat to the capital, stressing that bombers could strike
not just on the rail or tube network but virtually anywhere - pubs,
nightclubs, buses or roads.Sir John Stevens, Met police commissioner,
and the city’s mayor, Ken Livingstone, pledged to do everything
in their power to protect the public, but they urged Londoners
to be on their guard, stressing that cummunity vigilance was the
best weapon against terrorism.Sir John agreed with Mr Livingstone,
who said:’It would be miraculous if, with all the terrorist
resources ranged against us, terrorists did not get through, and
given that some are prepared to give their own lives, it would
be inconceivable that someone does not get through to London.’
Guardian, 17 March
‘Coach-napped’ Protestors to Appeal High Court
Judgement
Anti-war protestors will appeal against a judgement which ruled
that the police acted lawfully in turning them away from a demonstration
at RAF Fairford last March.The coach passengers won a landmark
victory in last month’s High Court judgement, which ruled
that the police had acted unlawfully and breached their human
rights by detaining them on their way to an anti-war demonstration.Although
the judges ruled that the detention was unlawful, they also ruled
that it was not unlawful for the police to turn the passengers
away from the demonstration.The ruling as it stands means that
any group of people could be turned away from a demonstration
without evidence and based solely on the opinion of a senior
police officer.
Fairford Coach Action press release, 18 March
Cabinet leak exposes conflict on ID cards
Four senior Labour ministers
have warned the home secretary David Blunkett not to breach a cabinet
agreement by accelerating the introduction of compulsory identity
cards, it emerged yesterday.Leaked correspondence shows that the
foreign secretary, Jack Straw, the transport secretary, Alistair
Darling, the chief secretary to the treasury, Paul Boateng, and
the trade and industry secretary, Patricia Hewitt, have stressed
a second bill should be passed before the scheme be passed before
the scheme is made compulsory.
Guardian, 22 March
9-11 hijackers could have been stopped, says ex-aide
If the Bush White House had heeded warnings in early 2001 about
the threat from al-Qaeda at least two of the September 11 hijackers
would ‘probably have been caught’ and ‘there
was a chance’ the attacks could have been prevented, the
president’s former top counter-terrorism adviser, Richard
Clarke, told the Guardian yesterday.
Guardian, 23 March
Security strategy will embrace grievances behind terror attacks
Javier
Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, will today
map out an EU strategy on terrorism that stresses the importance
of tackling the social and economic grievances that fuel it.’Clearly
there is a fanatical fringe that is beyond political discourse,’ Mr
Solana says. ‘But they move in and are nourished by a pool
of disaffection and grievance. Where these grievances are legitimate
they must be addressed. Not just because this is a matter of justice
but also because ‘draining the swamp’ depends on it.’
FT, 25 March
EU set to agree sweeping counter-terrorism policies
Police, security
and intelligence agencies across Europe will have authority to
hold and exchange ata on individuals and detain them under
a draft declaration on combating terrorism to be agreed by EU leaders
meeting in Brussels today.
Guardian, 25 March
Muslims we are the new victims of stop and search
British Muslims claim they are being victimised by police who
use powers of stop and search to harass them in the climate
of fear
over terrorist attacks (post-September 11).
Guardian, 29 March
Terror Bombs Seized
A major attack on London has been foiled today.
Hundreds of officers swooped on suspected al Qaeda-linked terrorists
equipped with the same bomb-making material used in the Bali nightclub
blast.
Evening Standard, 30 March
War on terror means more state secrets
New curbs on release of information to the public are being planned
by the government next year as part of Tony Blair’s commitment
to fighting the ‘war on terror’. Confidential draft
guidelines drawn up by the Cabinet Office propose a substantial
widening of the definition of national security and a further
weakening of the commitment to ‘open government’ by
ministers.
Guardian, 30 March
MI5 agents foil bomb plot
MI5 played a key role in foiling what security forces believe could
have been the most devastating bombing campaign in the UK, it
emerged last night.The domestic security service infiltrated
the network of eight suspects who were arrested yesterday in
one of the biggest anti-terrorist operations carried out on British
soil. As many as 700 police took part in dawn raids, seizing
the men and recovering half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser.
Guardian, 31 March
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CAMPACC News Bulletin is published by
Campaign Against Criminalising Communities - CAMPACC
c/o 44 Ainger Road
London NW3 3AT
Tel 020 7586 5892
or 0230 7250 1315
Fax 020 7483 2531
www.cacc.co.org
estella24@tiscali.co.uk
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