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AT A GLANCE

  • Eleven foreign terror suspects are currently held in British prisons or secure hospitals under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001


  • The emergency law, brought in within weeks of the September 11 attacks, allows suspects to be jailed indefinitely without trial


  • At the High Court in August, ten suspects unsuccessfully challenged a ruling of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission that the Home Secretary has "sound material" to back up his decision that they were a risk to national security


  • Of 17 foreigners originally detained under the act, `M' was freed on appeal, `G' was released to house arrest, one was detained under other powers and two have chosen to leave the UK, as allowed by the legislation



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    Advertisement

    Anti-terror detainees challenge Blunkett
    Terrorism



    Published: 04-Oct-2004
    By: Channel 4 News



    Foreigners interned under Britain's emergency anti-terror laws are taking Home Secretary David Blunkett's decision to detain them to the House of Lords today.


    Police

    Police standing behind banner during demonstration at Belmarsh




    The nine men are seeking to overturn a Court of Appeal decision which backed Mr Blunkett's powers to detain them without charge or trial.



    The government had to opt out of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights - which guarantees the right to liberty - in order to bring in the controversial internment powers in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA).



    The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords - the highest court in the UK - will be asked to rule on whether that decision to opt out was lawful.



    Seven detainees - currently held in high security jails - will be represented by Ben Emmerson QC.



    Two more, including "D" who was released by Mr Blunkett without full explanation on September 21, will be represented by Manjit Gill QC.



    The Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC will appear for the government.



    Civil rights group Liberty and Amnesty International have also been allowed to intervene, represented by David Pannick QC and Edward Fitzgerald QC retrospectively.



    Nine law lords headed by senior law lord Lord Bingham will hear the appeal.



    The appellants - who have not been named were expected to claim that the government and the Court of Appeal interpreted the rules which allow them to opt out of Article 5 too broadly, and that the Court of Appeal was wrong to rule that the ATCSA was a rational and proportionate response to the September 11 attacks.



    Solicitor for seven of the men, Gareth Peirce, claimed last week that the government's case against them had been weakened by publication of a letter from British Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg.



    The 36-year-old from Birmingham, who has been in US detention for more than two years, claimed he had been forced to sign false confessions.



    Ms Peirce said these confessions may have been used as evidence against those detained in Britain under the ATCSA – but this evidence is kept secret under government rules to protect national security.



    The Algerian national "D", who is in his 30s, was freed by Mr Blunkett after nearly three years in detention.



    He was released despite an independent commission confirming he was a terrorist supporter and a threat to national security just 11 weeks earlier.



    Yesterday protesters gathered outside Belmarsh jail in London urging Home Secretary David Blunkett to release the detainees.




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