Account of detainee's alleged torture passed to British high court

A graphic account by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed of his alleged torture during interrogation sessions has been passed to the high court. The account details how he was beaten with a leather strap, held down and punched by masked men, cut with a scalpel on his chest and penis, and subjected to psychological torture by being forced to listen to loud music, including Meat Loaf. It is among documents, including testimony from the US, presented to high court judges by the Guardian and other media organisations challenging the UK and US governments' refusal to disclose evidence of his ill-treatment. Statements were also filed at court yesterday by the US press who have produced evidence from Washington insiders to the effect that the release of the information will do no damage to the "special relationship". The media's evidence concludes that the US will not invoke reprisals against nations whose courts disclose information in the public interest. Mohamed was questioned after being seized at Karachi airport in April 2002 travelling on a false passport. He was sent to an interrogation centre where, he says, there were four cells, each 2m by 2.5m. He was hung up for a week by a leather strap around his wrists. He could only just stand. He was questioned by an American. Pakistani guards beat him with a leather strap. He was later visited by two British intelligence officers, one called John. The torture stopped when they came, Mohamed said. He said John told him: "I'll see what we can do with the Americans." He did not see John again. In July 2002 Mohamed was flown to Morocco. Later, when at Guantanamo, he told his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, that his "torture team" consisted of eight people, including a blonde woman. He was asked questions which he said could only have come from the UK. One day in early August, he said, "three men came in with black masks ... one stood on each of my shoulders, and the third punched me in the stomach. The first punch, I didn't expect it ... I was meant to stand, but I was in so much pain I'd fall to my knees." Mohamed was then secretly flown to Afghanistan and in 2004 to Guantanamo. The US last year dropped all charges against him. His "torture diary" has been sent to the high court where lawyers are pressing for the release of US intelligence documents believed to show UK involvement in Mohamed's treatment. Also passed to the courts are affidavits by US lawyers challenging the claim by David Miliband, the foreign secretary, that Washington could withdraw intelligence cooperation with the UK if the documents were disclosed.