Guantanamo Bay British Detainees
Mr. Godsiff : I entirely concur with my hon. Friend. Again, I make it plain that we must pursue international terrorists who carry out evil atrocities. As an individual MP, I consistently supported the war against international terrorism and the invasion of Afghanistan in pursuit of the al-Qaeda organisation. I opposed the invasion of Iraq because I believed that it was a distraction in the war against international terrorism. However, what separates us from the international terrorists is the fact that we respect the rule of law that underpins our democratic society. When we catch people who we believe are involved in international terrorism, we undermine our own values unless we try them in accordance with our laws.
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Ms Abbott : Is the Minister able to say that the Government are confident that there is no substance to the allegations of physical torture at Guantanamo Bay?
Mr. Mullin : I shall come to those allegations, but at the moment I am dealing with the ruling of the US district court last week, which I think is relevant to the situation of the detainees. The court held that trial by military commission would be unlawful as long as the rules of procedure allowed for the use of secret evidence and the exclusion of the accused from proceedings for reasons unconnected with his conduct. The US Government has indicated that it will appeal the court's ruling, and we are, of course, following the case.
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Ms Abbott : What is being done to secure family visits for the other British detainees, particularly Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar?
Mr. Mullin : As I said, we have repeatedly made representations to the Americans on the subject of visits for families, but so far those requests have been denied.
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