This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1404

Governments held hostage to judicial system - UK sends official to Gitmo to swear in terrorist as UK citizen

Lawyers acting as co conspirators
December 14, 2005

MIM: The David Hicks case is more proof of how terrorists can manipulate the judicial system by and makes a travesty on the war on terror. In several high profile terror cases the lawyers are acting more as co conspirators then legal council. The names of Stanley Cohen, Lynn Stuart,(who was charged with terrorism related offenses for helping her client Abdel Rahman), Makbool Javaid (UK), a high profile 'equality rights' lawyer and member of Al Muhajiroun, and Anjem Choudary, who was the second in command of Al Muhajiroun and the chairman of the Society of Muslim Lawyers ( an AM front). It is long known that groups like the ACLU and the Lawyer's Guild and the associations for Muslim lawyers are hotbeds of radicalism whose members are at the very least fifth columnists. As was recently shown in the Al Arian case, the civil trial and legal system are not adequate for trying terrorism cases,and new strategies must be implemented.

Australian in Guantanamo wins right to be UK citizen

By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent

Published: 14 December 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article333043.ece

Ministers are facing calls to intervene on behalf of an Australian held as a terrorist suspect at Guantanamo Bay after he won a four-year legal fight to become a British citizen.

To the Government's embarrassment, the High Court ruled that Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, had "no power in law" to deprive David Hicks of his citizenship "and so he must be registered".

Mr Hicks, often described as the "Australian Taliban", has been held at Guantanamo since January 2002 after being picked up by US forces in Afghanistan.

He denies charges being prepared against him of conspiracy to commit war crimes and of aiding and abetting the enemy. The American authorities have accused him of attending terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr Hicks, 30, applied for UK citizenship as his mother was born in Britain before emigrating to Australia as a young girl.

After the High Court found in his favour yesterday, his lawyers said that they would press the Government to make arrangements for him to take the required citizenship oath and pledge.

Although Mr Justice Collins gave the Home Secretary permission to appeal, he refused to suspend the appeal. The Government described the ruling as disappointing.

Mr Hicks' lawyer, Stephen Grosz, said he will urge the Home Office to seek Mr Hicks' release from the detention camp in Cuba and for him to be brought to the United Kingdom. Mr Hicks says the Australian government has refused to plead for his release and prevent his trial by a US military commission.

Louise Christian, a human rights lawyer, said: "If he has got British citizenship then the Government will be obliged to do the same for him as they did the others. He would be the only British citizen at Guantanamo Bay.

"I would be prepared to go to court for him. But it took a long time to get the others back. The others who came back were only returned after protracted negotiations."

Mr Hicks' father, Terry, said: "Hopefully the British Government may look at it as David's another British citizen held at Guantanamo. They do have a ruling with the Americans that none of their citizens will face military commissions, so they may ask for David to be released into their custody."

Mr Clarke argued citizenship should be refused because of Mr Hicks' alleged involvement with al-Qa'ida.

Clive Stafford-Smith, a lawyer working on the case, said after the ruling: "The British Government is mandated to take action."

Mr Hicks visited Albania in 1999 where he joined the Kosovo Liberation Army for a short spell before returning to Australia.

He converted to Islam, began studying Arabic, then travelled to Pakistan where he took up religious studies. From there he travelled to Afghanistan, where he was picked up by US forces.

Mr Hicks, from Adelaide, has claimed that he was subjected to regular abuse in Guantanamo. He has said he was beaten while being handcuffed and blindfolded, had his head slammed into concrete and was forced to run in leg shackles.

In an affidavit, he says that he was offered - and he refused - the services of a prostitute if he agreed to spy on other detainees. The Australian Attorney General has cast doubt on these claims.

Nine British citizens held in Guantanamo Bay have been released in the past two years. However, another five UK residents remain in the military camp.

Ministers are facing calls to intervene on behalf of an Australian held as a terrorist suspect at Guantanamo Bay after he won a four-year legal fight to become a British citizen.

To the Government's embarrassment, the High Court ruled that Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, had "no power in law" to deprive David Hicks of his citizenship "and so he must be registered".

Mr Hicks, often described as the "Australian Taliban", has been held at Guantanamo since January 2002 after being picked up by US forces in Afghanistan.

He denies charges being prepared against him of conspiracy to commit war crimes and of aiding and abetting the enemy. The American authorities have accused him of attending terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr Hicks, 30, applied for UK citizenship as his mother was born in Britain before emigrating to Australia as a young girl.

After the High Court found in his favour yesterday, his lawyers said that they would press the Government to make arrangements for him to take the required citizenship oath and pledge.

Although Mr Justice Collins gave the Home Secretary permission to appeal, he refused to suspend the appeal. The Government described the ruling as disappointing.

Mr Hicks' lawyer, Stephen Grosz, said he will urge the Home Office to seek Mr Hicks' release from the detention camp in Cuba and for him to be brought to the United Kingdom. Mr Hicks says the Australian government has refused to plead for his release and prevent his trial by a US military commission.

Louise Christian, a human rights lawyer, said: "If he has got British citizenship then the Government will be obliged to do the same for him as they did the others. He would be the only British citizen at Guantanamo Bay.

"I would be prepared to go to court for him. But it took a long time to get the others back. The others who came back were only returned after protracted negotiations."

Mr Hicks' father, Terry, said: "Hopefully the British Government may look at it as David's another British citizen held at Guantanamo. They do have a ruling with the Americans that none of their citizens will face military commissions, so they may ask for David to be released into their custody."

Mr Clarke argued citizenship should be refused because of Mr Hicks' alleged involvement with al-Qa'ida.

Clive Stafford-Smith, a lawyer working on the case, said after the ruling: "The British Government is mandated to take action."

Mr Hicks visited Albania in 1999 where he joined the Kosovo Liberation Army for a short spell before returning to Australia.

He converted to Islam, began studying Arabic, then travelled to Pakistan where he took up religious studies. From there he travelled to Afghanistan, where he was picked up by US forces.

Mr Hicks, from Adelaide, has claimed that he was subjected to regular abuse in Guantanamo. He has said he was beaten while being handcuffed and blindfolded, had his head slammed into concrete and was forced to run in leg shackles.

In an affidavit, he says that he was offered - and he refused - the services of a prostitute if he agreed to spy on other detainees. The Australian Attorney General has cast doubt on these claims.

Nine British citizens held in Guantanamo Bay have been released in the past two years. However, another five UK residents remain in the military camp.

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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1666791,00.html Owen Bowcott
Wednesday December 14, 2005
The Guardian

A high court judge yesterday told the home secretary he did not have the power to deprive a Guantánamo Bay detainee of his right to British citizenship. The government was ordered to make arrangements for David Hicks to take the required oath, and a Foreign Office official could be sent to Cuba to carry out the ceremony.

Mr Hicks, 30, who holds Australian citizenship, is accused of attending terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Once registered as a British citizen he will call on the government to secure his release. Australia recognises the US military commission and has made no attempts to free its citizens from Guantánamo Bay, but the UK negotiated the return of all nine British citizens being held there without trial last year. It does not recognise the legitimacy of the US procedures under international law. Mr Hicks, a Muslim convert from Adelaide, has been held at Guantánamo since January 2002. He was picked up by US forces while allegedly fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, and faces charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes and aiding and abetting the enemy. He denies all the allegations. The Home Office accepts that Mr Hicks is entitled to citizenship as his mother was born in the UK before emigrating to Australia. His maternal grandparents served with the British military during the second world war. But Home Office lawyers said his registration could be refused because of his alleged involvement with terrorist activities against the UK. The home secretary has powers under the 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act and the 1981 British Nationality Act to deprive a person of citizenship if, for instance, they have been "disloyal or disaffected" towards the Queen or assisted an enemy. But Mr Justice Collins ruled this behaviour could only be taken into account if it occurred after the person had acquired citizenship.

Fraud or false representation would be grounds for preventing registration but Mr Hicks had done none of those things. The judge granted Charles Clarke leave to appeal but declined to suspend his judgment that arrangements should be made to give Mr Hicks citizenship. "Once [Mr Hicks] is a British citizen," Mr Justice Collins said, "he should be entitled to all assistance which can be given to a British citizen. It would be improper to fail to give assistance ... because the claimant was believed to be involved in terrorism." If the US authorities blocked British officials from conducting a citizenship ceremony in Guantánamo Bay, the judge added, the home secretary should consider using his powers to grant citizenship but to delay the ceremony.

Mr Hicks's solicitor, Stephen Grosz, welcomed the ruling. "We will be pressing for David to be registered as soon as possible," he said. "We will be asking for the support of MPs to make sure he is registered. Once he is a British citizen he should be entitled to all the assistance given to other British citizens [in Guantánamo Bay]." The Home Office described the ruling as a disappointment but declined to comment further. The decision is unlikely to affect the handful of British residents - those not entitled to citizenship - who remain in Guantánamo Bay.

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1404