Most people by now have heard of the case of Babar Ahmad - the longest serving British citizen held in prison in the UK for 8 years without trial. Many others are now increasingly becoming aware of Syed Talha Ahsan an autistic man who has been held alongside Babar for 6 years without trial.
Few however have ever heard of the cases Khalid al-Fawwaz who is Britain's longest serving prisoner without trial, unbelievably detained since 1998 for 14 years and Adel Abdel Bary who has been imprisoned in the UK for over 13 years without trial.
All these men, at various levels, have been fighting a highly contrversial extradition treaty between the USA and UK. Between them, these men have been collectivley imprisoned for 41 years without any charge.
They are currently held in a segregated wing at the Detainee Unit, HMP Long Lartin.
The British Government, which claims to pride itself on establishing the rule of law and dispensing justice for all continues to deny these men habeas corpus, basic rights in relation to freedom from imprisonment without trial. Yet in a recent Early Day Motion only 6 out of 650 British Members of Parliament supported the follwoing statement:
...this House considers the imprisonment without conviction of Mr Adel Abdel Bary since 1999, separating him from his wife and children, whilst he contests his extradition to the United States, is inhumane and unjust, given that he is a respected human rights lawyer, previously imprisoned and tortured for his principled opposition to the barbaric Mubarak regime in Egypt and that no credible evidence has been levelled against him; and calls on the Government to reject the US request for extradition and to release Mr Adel Abdel Bary to allow him to return to his family.
It is indeed a great shame for the reputation of Britain and an evidence of just how out of touch the government is with events in the wider wolrd that Adel Abdul Bary is still in prison. His former colleagues, many of whom were regarded as terrorists by the British-backed Muabarak regime in Egypt, have taken prominent positions in the local and national governence of their country - something Abdel Bary had been fighting for all along. The irony is that Abdel Bary was granted political asylum in the UK because of the recognised brutality of the previous Egyptian regime - which included in its arsenal of repression torture and arbitrary detention, without trial.
It is high time the British government took a very serious look at the case of Adel Abdel Bary and all the others detained for decades without trial in the UK, notwithstanding the resounding embarassment that issues from only six out of 650-strong elected parliamentarians who recognise the "inhumane and unjust" nature of his ordeal.
For further action points and information please:
Read "Egypt puts British justice to shame" in the case of Adel Abdel Bary
Watch report on extradition UK-US extradition
Contact your local MP and ask them to support the EDM
Sign the petition calling for the trial or release of Adel Abdel Bary
Write to the forgotten prisoners in the detainee unit of HMP Long Lartin
Visit: websites for Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan
Remember them in your prayers
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