British intelligence accused of complicity in torture

British intelligence and security officials were facing fresh questions about allegations of complicity in torture on Sept. 19 after a terrorism suspect appeared in court accused of plotting an al-Qaida attack. Rangzieb Ahmed, a British citizen from Fallowfield, Greater Manchester, alleges that during a year in captivity in Pakistan he suffered sleep deprivation and severe beatings, and that three fingernails were extracted from his left hand. Before being put aboard a plane to Heathrow this month, Ahmed, 32, says he was questioned by British and US officials as well as by Pakistani intelligence officers who he alleges carried out the torture. After he appeared before City of Westminster magistrates, charged with three offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000, his lawyer said outside court that government officials had no excuse for not being aware that British citizens faced torture if detained in Pakistan, and had a legal responsibility to protect them. Tayab Ali, of London law firm McCormacks, added: "Mr. Ahmed has injuries which would support the allegation of torture, including having his fingernails pulled out. We will be investigating whether there is any British government complicity in his detention and torture." Ahmed's allegations resemble those of another British citizen, Salahuddin Amin, from Luton, Bedfordshire, who says he was beaten, whipped and threatened with an electric drill, possibly in the same prison in Rawalpindi. Amin, 33, was jailed for life this year after the Old Bailey heard evidence that he was one of a group of men planning a huge bomb attack in the south-east of England. His counsel suggested to the jury that his mistreatment showed that both sides in the so-called war on terror had come "to share common standards of illegality and immorality." Amin's lawyers are planning to appeal against his conviction, and say they will be bringing a civil action against the British government. Ahmed claims to have been working for an earthquake relief fund when he was detained in August last year by officials of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) agency. After being blindfolded and shackled, he was taken to an underground detention center where he was questioned about al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, and the July 7 bomber Shehzad Tanweer. At first, he alleges, he was simply punched during questioning, but was later beaten with sticks and with strips of tire attached to wooden handles. He alleges that on the eighth day his interrogators began using pliers to pull out his fingernails. They did this slowly, giving him painkilling injections after each session. The process of removing three nails took around seven or eight days, he says. Ahmed says a CCTV camera was in the room where he was tortured, and fresh questions to be put to him were written on slips of paper which were passed into the room from outside. After two months of interrogation he was questioned by US officials, and he was also seen on one occasion by British officials, who showed him a series of photographs of people they wanted identified. The British Foreign Office confirmed that although consular officials had been denied access to Ahmed, other officials from the high commission in Islamabad were allowed to see him. A spokeswoman said he had seemed well and made no complaint. "Mr. Ahmed's welfare was always a priority." Asked about allegations of British complicity in his alleged torture, she said: "The British government doesn't condone the use of torture." Under the 1988 Criminal Justice Act it is illegal for British officials to commission acts of torture anywhere, or even to acquiesce in the face of torture. The crime can be punished by life imprisonment. The US state department's annual report on human rights this year said that prisoners across Pakistan were at risk of severe abuse, which was alleged to include "beating, burning with cigarettes, whipping the soles of the feet, prolonged isolation, electric shock, denial of food or sleep, hanging upside down, use of electric shocks, and forced spreading of the legs with bar fetters". After arrest, Ahmed was questioned by detectives from Greater Manchester police for 12 days before being charged. He is accused of directing an organization concerned in the commission of acts of terrorism; possessing three books for purposes of terrorism; and possessing a backpack containing traces of explosive.