‘I feel betrayed by Britain’, says prisoner
A BRITISH resident who is facing the death penalty in Guantanamo Bay has written a letter to Prime Minster Gordon Brown urging him for help.
Binyam Mohamed, the only Briton in the camp, has been held for six years and is expected to be charged with terrorism offences within the next few days, the Independent reported.
Mr Mohamed, 29, claims he has suffered horrific abuse during his time at the military camp.
In a letter to 10 Downing Street he said: “I have been held without trial by the US for six years, one month and 12 days. That is 2,234 days (very long days and often longer nights). Of this, about 550 days were in a torture chamber in Morocco and about 150 in the ‘Dark Prison’ in Kabul. Still there is no end in sight, no prospect of a fair trial.”
Mr Mohamed, came to Britain as a refugee from Ethiopia and was given remain to leave. Last year four other British residents were released after the intervention of the government. The US has so far refused to comply in the case of Mr Mohammed.
In his letter Mr Mohamed calls Britain “home”, but says the government’s lackluster attempts to free him have left him feeling “betrayed”.
“Because I am a Londoner, your Government states publicly that you support my right to return home there as soon as possible. I am grateful for that. I always viewed Britain as the country that stood up for human rights more than any other. That was why I came to Britain as a refugee.
“Before the intervention of your Government to help me, I was more resigned to my fate. To be held forever without a fair trial. When your Government intervened, I had hope. But it has been a cruel hope. Nine months later, I am still here, no closer to home, still in this terrible prison. When I learned that my Moroccan torturers were using information supplied by British intelligence, I felt deeply betrayed. When I learned that your Government’s lawyers [The Treasury Solicitors] had told my lawyers they had no duty to help prove my innocence, or even that I had been tortured, I felt betrayed again.”
Earlier this month, Mr Mohamed’s legal team launched a legal bid to force the British government to release evidence for his defence.
