Guantanamo detainee alleges CIA has torture photos News
Guantanamo detainee alleges CIA has torture photos

[JURIST] A former Guantanamo detainee who alleges he was tortured when the CIA handed him over to Moroccan interrogators has asked the UK government to ensure that photographic evidence of his torture is preserved, according to Tuesday reports. Ethiopian Binyam Mohamed [Reprieve profile] says that in 2002 US forces "outsourced" his interrogation to Moroccan agents, who tortured him; he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] in 2004. Mohamed's lawyer Sunday sent a letter [DOC text] to UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband [official profile], saying that he can prove the CIA photographed Mohamed's torture and asking that Milliband intervene to make sure that these photographs are not destroyed. The CIA did not confirm or deny the existence of the alleged photos, but defended its practice of outsourcing interrogations. Mohamed's lawyer first revealed details of the alleged torture in an amicus brief [PDF text] to the US Supreme Court during its review of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld [JURIST news archive]. The Miami Herald has more.

Mohamed was one of five UK residents being detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] being held at Guantanamo; earlier this month, it was reported that the other four are scheduled to be released [JURIST report]. The US government has asked for assurances that the men will not pose any terrorist threat after release, but has not conditioned their release on any promise by UK authorities to detain the men. Earlier this month, CIA Director Michael Hayden [official profile] sent a memo to CIA employees saying that the agency videotaped the interrogations [JURIST report] of two terror suspects in 2002, but that the tapes were destroyed in 2005 amid concerns that they could be leaked to the public and compromise the identities of the interrogators.