Skip Channel4 main Navigation
Explore Channel4
Food
Homes
Film
4Car
News
See All
[an error occurred while processing this directive]


VIDEO

Premium Content Broadband video
See our report here


FATHER'S REACTION

Azmat


Channel 4 News managed to speak to Moazzam Begg's father Azmat about his son's letter:

"This letter is a part of the original statement which my son has written to different authorities and that clears that he has been tortured throughout, and he has been in solitary confinement all the time"

"He is absolutely innocent and he has written of so many crime committed by the US army"

On what the UK Government should do in response to the letter:

“They should take a very strong step and immediately ask the captors to explain what has happened, why they are treating Moazzam like that, he is a British subject after all”

“(The captors) at least should immediately transfer him back to this country, free him and compensate him”

When asked about the content of previous letters:

“It has been censored and blocked and I couldn’t read, but I can (could) make out he was in a very bad condition”

“He didn’t know why. He didn’t understand why it was happening to me (him)”

On the legal content of the current letter:

“He was a student of law and he acquired legal knowledge to a good level”

“I am very proud of him”

“He is a very brave boy”

“And I was (am) so pleased to see this letter that he has written in a manner that it seems he is mentally ok”

“Otherwise I think he is a broken person”




INTERNET LINKS

Guantanamo Bay
"Honor Bound to Defend Freedom"
submit a url

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites.
Page Not Found - Channel 4

Where's that page gone? Search us...

This page cannot be found. Here are some options to help track down what you're looking for:

  • If you want to watch full-length programmes, browse all Channel 4, E4 and More4 programmes currently available to watch on our free 4oD service.
  • For more information on a particular show, try visiting our A-Z of programmes.
  • Alternatively, try typing your search term into our new improved Search.

Advertisement

British Guantanamo detainee alleges torture
Terror



Published: 01-Oct-2004
By: Simon Israel



For the first time allegations of torture by a British detainee still inside Guantanamo have been made public.


In a handwritten statement which has mysteriously evaded censorship, Moazzam Begg accuses the US authorities of threats, torture and even murder.



The Pentagon, which has been sent a copy, insisted Guantanamo Bay is operating 'humanely' and providing valuable information on the war on terror.



But Begg's lawyers say the British government has no choice now but to get him out.



Now 36, the law student has been incarcerated since February 2002.



At Guantanamo he's remained in solitary confinement. Whatever he's penned to the outside world has always been censored.



The letter - or more accurately a statement - appears to have slipped past the US military gatekeepers and is all the more surprising for what it contains.



Moazzam Begg claims he's been forced by interrogators to sign documents under duress



The letter, dated 12th July this year, six weeks before his first access to a lawyer, reads :





During several interviews - particularly - though unexclusively - in Afghanistan, I was subjected to pernicious threats of torture, actual vindictive torture and death threats - amongst other coercively employed interrogation techniques





The “crimes” referred to amount to allegations of murder.



Former detainees have made similar claims on release but never publically from inside - until now.



From his cell Moazzam Begg has described in his letter what he saw while detained at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan:







In this atmosphere of severe antipathy towards detainees was the compounded use of racially and religiously prejudiced taunts. This culminated, in my opinion, with the deaths of two fellow detainees, at the hands of U.S. military personnel, to which I myself was partially witness





"I would say that he is being held separately because he has witnessed murder. We don't know why this letter came out, it is a curious letter, it refers to one before that we have never seen. It came out through the military censorship process to the lawyer in America."


Gareth Pierce, Begg’s lawyer






Dates have been blanked out.



The handwriting on that letter compared to that on the one released by Moazzam Begg's lawyers today is very similar.



Evidence perhaps to counter suspicions that such a potentially damaging letter is a set up.



His lawyers have sent copies to the Pentagon and to the Foreign Office which tonight responded with this statement:





"The Government will be carefully looking at the lEtter and raising any further welfare concerns"





It's believed British consular officials are due to visit the British detainees in Guantanamo this weekend. Such visits happen every three months.



The meetings are monitored and there is always an American presence.



Moazzam Begg's lawyers say they intend to file a claim in the US courts to try to force the authorities to disclose detailed evidence of Begg's allegations of torture and of the murders he says he heard take place.




C4 NEWS INFO
The Channel 4 News site has been redesigned. This page is part of an archive of content from the previous website.
Go to new homepage




BREAKING HEADLINES
channel4.com - Application Error Skip Channel4 main Navigation

   Application Error

Apologies, but this page is temporarily unavailable.

Our technical team are made aware of most faults almost immediately - and fix them as soon as possible. Please revisit the site at the next convenient opportunity, when we would hope and expect this problem to have been resolved.

If you have returned to the site and are still having problems, please contact us here

Best wishes

Channel 4 webteam

Channel 4


channel 4

Channel 4 © 2009. Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of external websites.