Prisoner abuse and torture in the wider 'war on terror'

Lancet letter: doctors condemn forcefeeding at Guantanamo (10 March 2006)
BBC News report: "More than 250 medical experts have signed a letter condemning the US for force-feeding prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The experts, from seven nations, said physicians at the prison had to respect inmates' right to refuse treatment.

The letter, in the medical journal The Lancet said doctors who used restraints and force-feeding should be punished by their professional bodies."
UN Guantánamo Bay report (16 Feb 2006)
Five independent investigators of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights are calling on the United States to close immediately the detention centre in Guantánamo Bay and bring all detainees before an independent and competent tribunal or release them.
- See also Press Release
UK Law Lords rule out torture evidence (08 Dec 2005)
In a unanimous ruling, the Law Lords determined that evidence obtained through torture will not be admissible in British courts.

Plus comment from Amnesty International, Liberty, and Human Rights Watch.
UNHCR: High Commissioner for Human Rights says total ban on torture under attack in 'war on terror' (07 Dec 2005)
'The absolute ban on torture, a cornerstone of the international human rights edifice, is becoming a casualty of the so-called "war on terror", the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today. '
Amnesty International: '800 secret CIA flights in and out of Europe' (Dec 2005)
'Amnesty International has revealed that six planes used by the CIA for renditions have made some 800 flights in or out of European airspace including 50 landings at Shannon airport in the Republic of Ireland.

The information contradicts assurances given last week by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern, that Ireland's Shannon airport had not been used for "untoward" purposes, or as a transit point for terror suspects.'
Liberty and JUSTICE joint submission: UK Compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture Joint Committee on Human Rights (Sept 2005)
Criticises the UK government’s proposed use of diplomatic assurances to remove foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism back to countries known to practise torture.
Amnesty International 'Stop Torture' campaign
Human Rights Watch 'US Torture and Abuse of Detainees' section
- HRW 'The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody' (Jan 2005)
  A 94-page report documenting how unlawful arrest, long-term incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees (including children) by Iraqi authorities have become routine and commonplace. There is also a press release.
News reports
- The Independent: 'MI5, Camp Delta, and the story that shames Britain' (16 March 2006)
  The story of Bisher al-Rawi and Jamil el-Banna, two British residents held at Guantánamo Bay after being detained in the Gambia by US agents with British collusion. This account was written by their lawyer.
  
  Jack Straw has since agreed to intervene in the case (23rd March 2006).
  
  The BBC reported details of telegrams which confirm British involvement (28th March 2006).
- New York Times: 'Qaeda-Iraq Link U.S. Cited Is Tied to Coercion Claim' (09 Dec 2005)
  'Officials said an inmate in Egyptian custody made up details about ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda in order to escape abuse.'
- BBC News: Q&A: US abuses in Afghan jails (22 May 2005)
- BBC News: 'CIA prisoners 'tortured' in Arab jails' (08 Feb 2005)
  'A former CIA official has confirmed suspicions that dozens of terror suspects have been flown to jails in Middle Eastern countries where torture is routinely practised, and without reference to courts of law.'
- Guardian 'rendition' page
  See also the testimony of six men caught up in the extrajudicial 'renditions'.