Feds Battle to Keep Rendition Case Under Wraps

Torture allegations trump state secrets argument, panel rules

(NEWSER) - Five men who allege they were kidnapped and tortured on the orders of CIA agents may bring suit in federal court, an appeals panel ruled yesterday. Presidents Bush and Obama both contended that the case should be dismissed to protect classified evidence. But a federal appeals court panel ruled presidential powers to guard state secrets "are not the only weighty constitutional values at stake." More»

UK a full partner in US terror effort, report says

(NEWSER) - Binyam Mohamed, a recently released Gitmo detainee, alleges that he was tortured in Morocco while asked questions on behalf of Britian’s MI5. His story so far has amounted to his word against MI5’s, but a new report supports the former detainee’s claim, the Economist reports. A UN report on human rights says Britain, France, Germany, and Italy all sent interrogators to Gitmo despite publicly condemning the American facility. More»

British AG may press charges in torture case

(NEWSER) - The Guantanamo Bay prisoner at the heart of a diplomatic dispute between Britain and the United States has been released and landed in the UK today. Binyam Mohamed alleges he was tortured when the CIA rendered him to Morocco, but a British court decided not to release relevant documents after the government intervened. The BBC reports that the British attorney general may order a criminal investigation into the torture claims. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama appears ready to put the whole issue of CIA torture behind him. He owes it to the nation to do otherwise, writes Mark Benjamin in Salon. In particular, he should appoint a torture commission—a bipartisan group to evaluate what, if anything, the US gained from these interrogation techniques. Most likely, they just made "desperate prisoners say whatever they had to say to make the pain stop, yielding a few gems among a flow of muck." More»

Government tells courts to withhold evidence in torture case

(NEWSER) - Binyam Mohamed, a British detainee at Guantanamo Bay, alleges that he has been tortured, and his lawyers petitioned a high court in London to release a document detailing his treatment. But yesterday two judges declined—after the British government informed them that the US might stop sharing intelligence with the UK if it was made public. The incident has set off a debate about the freedom of the courts and led to accusations that the US has blackmailed the UK, writes the Times of London. More»