British "control orders" on terror suspects

[Al-khiyal]

LONDON, June 28 (KUNA) -- A key plank of the British Government's policy to combat terrorism has been thrown out by the High Court, in central London.

A senior judge ruled Wednesday that control orders made against six men are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

They are imposed on people suspected of terrorism but where there is not enough evidence to go to court.

Under the orders, suspects can be tagged, confined to their homes, and banned from communicating with others, and have their passports confiscated.

Their telephone conversations and Internet use can also be monitored.

Last April, the same judge ruled against the Act under which control orders are made, saying that those subjected to them had not received a fair hearing.

He said control orders were incompatible with Article five of the European Convention on Human Rights, which outlaws indefinite detention without trial.

Appeals against the judgements are expected to be heard this Monday.

The six men, thought to be a Briton and five Iraqis, will remain subject to the restrictions until then.

The Government's terror law adviser Lord Carlisle said the Government would "undoubtedly" appeal the ruling.

"If the Court of Appeal upholds the judgement I would expect the Government to look at each of the control orders on the merits", he added.

"Each control order will have to be brought within stricter limits so that it does not breach Article five of the European Convention on Human Rights", Lord Carlisle said.

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Ministers have lost their court appeal against a ruling which said six control orders used against terror suspects broke European human rights laws.

Control orders are used where there is not enough evidence to prosecute.

The Court of Appeal upheld the decision made by a judge earlier this year that orders made against six suspects were too severe and should be quashed.

The orders, which kept the men inside for 18 hours a day, are being changed but the government is to appeal again.

The court did allow one part of Home Secretary John Reid's appeal against an earlier ruling which said another suspect had not been given a fair hearing when put on a control order.

Earlier this year, Mr Justice Sullivan ruled that control orders on six suspects were so strict that they broke Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which outlaws indefinite detention without trial.

The six men, who cannot be identified, are all Iraqi nationals who were arrested under anti-terrorism laws and later released without charge.

Instead, control orders were made against them which forced them to stay indoors between 4pm and 10am every day.

There were other restrictions on who they could meet and they were banned from using mobile phones and the internet.

The appeal judges, headed by Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips, said: "We agree that the facts of this case fall clearly on the wrong side of the dividing line.

"The orders amounted to a deprivation of liberty contrary to Article 5.

"We consider that the reasons given by Mr Justice Sullivan for quashing the orders are compelling."

The judges said the previous ruling had been right to focus on the fact that the six men were each confined to a small flat for 18 hours a day.

"Such a restriction makes most serious inroads on liberty, even giving that word its most narrow meaning," they said.

Responding to the judgement, Mr Reid said the court had made clear the terrorism laws themselves were in line with the European human rights laws.

But he promised to go to the House of Lords to appeal against the deprivation of liberty ruling because he was concerned about its impact on public safety.

"We are at a sustained high level of threat from a terrorist attack - put simply, an attack is highly likely," he said.

"Our security services are at full stretch and control orders form an essential part of our fight against terrorism."

Mr Reid said he had made new and amended control orders against the six suspects involved.

"Reluctantly amended, because these are not as stringent as the security services believe are necessary, but are required to maintain protection of the public to the best of our ability in this situation," he added.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said the court case was yet another example of government incompetence putting people's safety at risk.

The Conservative spokesman pointed to when previous measures allowing detention without trial had collapsed after another court judgement.

"We offered them an extension of those laws to allow time to come up with workable, robust effective new laws. They turned us down," said Mr Davis.

British ministers lose terror law appeal

[Al-khiyal]

5 April 2007 -- The Government's anti-terror legislation was dealt a blow yesterday when a judge ruled that restrictions controlling the movements of a man suspected of terrorism had unlawfully deprived him of his liberty.

Mr Justice Beatson, sitting at the High Court in London, quashed a control order imposed by the Home Secretary, John Reid, on Mahmoud Abu Rideh, a Palestinian refugee. The Government said it would appeal against the ruling.

Abu Rideh is the second terror suspect this year to win a court case against the Government's anti-terrorism restrictions.

In February, the High Court ruled in favour of "E", another terror suspect whose daily life was subject to severe restrictions. A further three suspects are on the run; one is believed to have left the country.

Abu Rideh's lawyers told the court that restrictions amounted to degrading and inhuman treatment that had seriously affected his mental health.

During a recent High Court hearing of his case, Abu Rideh interrupted the proceedings and threatened to kill himself. He shouted: "I have no human rights in this country. Kill me like they killed Saddam... Do you want me to kill myself?" Abu Rideh, who has self-harmed on a number of occasions, pulled a packet from his pocket, saying "I have a razor", before members of his legal team intervened.

The judge said of the order on Abu Rideh: "Its cumulative effects in my judgment deprive [Abu Rideh] of liberty, and the Secretary of State has no power to make such an order."

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, the human rights group, said: "The control order regime is descending into tragic farce as we are subjected to an almost weekly diet of escapes or findings of illegality by the courts." She added: "The Government should end its obsession with new-fangled legal restrictions... and stick to charges, evidence and proof."

British judge quashes control order on terror suspect

[Al-khiyal]

The high court today overturned a control order imposed on a terrorist suspect who threatened to kill himself in front of a judge.

Lawyers for the Palestinian refugee Mahmoud Abu Rideh said the severe restrictions imposed on his daily life under the order amounted to "inhuman and degrading treatment" and were affecting his mental health.

Today's ruling is the latest control order to be overturned by the high court, forcing the home secretary, John Reid, to impose less restrictive orders he believes offer the public weaker protection against terrorist suspects.

"Its cumulative effects in my judgment deprive [Mr Abu Rideh] of liberty, and the secretary of state has no power to make such an order," judge Mr Justice Beatson said as he quashed the control order first imposed by Charles Clarke in March 2005 and renewed a year later.

Mr Abu Rideh's restrictions include a 12-hour curfew, no internet access and a ban on visits from anyone the Home Office has not approved,

During a hearing in January, he pulled out from his pocket a packet that he said contained a razor before being led from the court. The same judge, Mr Beatson, told Mr Abu Rideh to keep quiet or be ordered to leave the court.

Mr Abu Rideh responded by saying: "I have no human rights in this country. Kill me like they killed Saddam. See how many people Blair and Bush have killed. Do you want me to kill myself?" He then pulled the packet from his pocket, warning: "I have a razor."

His psychiatrist immediately went to him and took hold of his arm, and with his solicitor, Gareth Peirce, led him from court.

In February, the same judge quashed a control order on a Tunisian, known as E. The home secretary issued a new order with less restrictive terms, pending an appeal, but he claimed this would increase E's likelihood of absconding.

Mr Abu Rideh, who was born in Jordan, was held in Belmarsh prison, southeast London, and Broadmoor high security hospital in Berkshire for three years without charge. His supporters say his mental health deteriorated because of his time in custody.

Mr Abu Rideh has harmed himself on a number of occasions. He was voluntarily admitted to Charing Cross hospital in London last December.

Two years ago, the special immigration appeals commission ruled that Mr Abu Rideh "remains rightly certified as a suspected international terrorist who is, on sound grounds, believed to be a risk to national security".

Before the case started, Ms Pierce said the control orders were having a serious impact on the families of both E and Mr Abu Rideh.

"At one fell swoop, all the wives' friends and all the children's friends' parents are excluded from the home. Although the friends have nothing to hide, nobody wants to make themselves the subject of Home Office security vetting, particularly since they are members of the same refugee community," she said.

Home-based control orders have been imposed on 18 terrorist suspects after the Lords ruled it was unlawful under human rights law to imprison them indefinitely without trial. Typical terms include near house arrest, with a 12-hour curfew, and limits on visitors and communications. Three suspects have absconded.

Judge overturns control order on suicidal terror suspect

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LONDON, 23 May 2007 (Reuters) - Three suspects held under controversial anti-terrorism "control orders" have absconded this week, police said on Wednesday, an embarrassing blow for a key plank of Tony Blair's security strategy.

The announcement, following the disappearances of at least two other suspects last year, means that more than a quarter of those subject to the controversial orders - imposed on suspects who are not charged with a crime - are now missing.

The prime minister introduced the orders, under which suspects are electronically tagged and subjected to a range of restrictions, after courts threw out Blair's measures to jail suspects indefinitely without charge.

"This is yet another hammer blow for the increasingly discredited system of control orders," said Nick Clegg, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats.

The Conservatives, who support the orders, said the government was nonetheless failing to keep the public safe.

The Metropolitan Police took the extraordinary step of naming the three abscondees and releasing pictures of them. Suspects under control orders are usually entitled to anonymity because they have not been convicted of a crime.

The three were named as Lamine Adam, 26, Ibrahim Adam, 20, and Cerie Bullivant, 24. The Adams were both born in Algeria and were described as of North African origin. Bullivant was born in Britain and listed as white.

Police said the three may be travelling together. Members of the public were told not to approach them.

Under the orders terrorism suspects can no longer be jailed without charge but can be subjected to a range of measures up to virtual house arrest.

Suspects are frequently confined to their homes for much of the day, required to wear electronic tags, obliged to check in with police, forbidden to use computers or telephones and banned from meeting people without permission.

The orders must be imposed by a special court, but the suspects are not permitted to see evidence against them and the authorities do not have to prove they are guilty of a crime.

Two other suspects on control orders who disappeared last year have not been found. According to the Home Office, 17 people are being monitored under the programme, including the three who absconded this week but not two who fled last year.

Three terrorism suspects flee "control orders"

[Al-khiyal]

Anthony Garcia, 24

The plotters

Brother worked as Tube driver

Three terrorism suspects flee "control orders"

23rd May 2007 - Two brothers of a convicted terrorist jailed for life for the fertiliser bomb plot have gone on the run after breaching anti-terrorism control orders placed upon them, it emerged today.

Lamine Adam, 26, and Ibrahim Adam, 20, are both brothers to Anthony Garcia - the notorious 24-year old terrorist jailed for life for plotting a murderous fertiliser bomb explosion in the UK.

Garcia was part of the gang who infamously targetted nightclubs and shopping centres in the name of Islam. Lamine Adam had been working as a tube driver while Garcia was plotting the carnage.

Today, it emerged that his two brothers had both been made subject of control orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

But Scotland Yard said they, and a third man Cerie Bullivant, 24, who was also subject to an order, had gone missing.

The two brothers, both from Algeria, had been due to contact a monitoring company on Monday, but failed to attend.

The following day Bullivant, who is linked the the Adam brothers, failed to report to his local police station.

DAC Peter Clarke, head of the MPS Counter Terrorism Command, said: "We are making inquiries into the whereabouts of these men. It is possible that the public can help us to trace them. They have breached the conditions of their control orders, which is a serious crime.

"We know that Lamine Adam, Ibrahim Adam and Cerie Bullivant are associates and may well be together. I am asking members of the public who actually see these men not to approach them, but to call 999 immediately.

"Anyone with other relevant information on their whereabouts should contact the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321."

Lamine Adam is described as six foot tall, of slim build with light complexion and short dark brown hair. He was last seen with a short beard or stubble.

Ibrahim Adam is six foot two, of slim build with light complexion and short dark brown hair.

Bullivant is white, five foot seven tall, of slim build with brown receding hair and brown eyes. He is understood to have recently cut his hair very short

Brothers of convicted terrorist on the run

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Fertiliser bomb plotter's brothers missing