Guantanamo inmates reject government secret hearing request

This week saw calls from seven ex-detainees from Guantanamo Bay call for the High Court to reject requests to for secret court hearings in their cases.

The UK government has asked that hearings concerning allegations that Britain was complicit in the overseas torture of the ex-inmates be held behind closed doors. The seven people in question are part of a class action against the UK government which is suing Britain for its role in their torture, either in prison or in detention centres.

The group claim that Britain was involved in or knew of the UN outlawed torture practices.

In a statement released on Tuesday by lawyers the seven said that Britain wanted private hearings and restricted access to official documents, which the group claim may show government guilt. They have also denounced any move to make a civil damages case private. One lawyer said that the move was unconstitutional and added fuel to suspicions that the government has something to hide.

The government has argued that the high sensitivity of some records means that their release would pose a threat to national security or jeopardise international relations and that the case is best tried outside of the public gaze. Government lawyers have requested that a team of specially appointed advocates be employed to study the documentation on the detainee’s behalf as per selected high-profile immigration or terrorism cases.

Britain has denied allegations of collusion in overseas torture although two officers are still under investigation one incident. Britain acknowledges that it interviewed dozens of overseas detainees in the wake of 9/11 but denies any claims of wrongdoing.