Mr Justice Mitting’s decision today refusing the deportation to Jordan of Omar Othman, popularly known as Abu Qatada, is a significant victory for the British legal system over government pressure. His barrister, Edward Fitzgerald QC at once asked for bail, “there is no justification for continuing to deprive Mr Othman of his liberty. Enough is enough, it has gone on for many years now.”

The No More Secrets nationwide tour kicked off in Bradford at the weekend attracting more than 200 people who attended a fundraising dinner and premiere of the CagePrisoners documentary Spies, Lies & Libya. Opened by the local Respect MP George Galloway, other speakers included CagePrisoners patron Yvonne Ridley and Libyan lawyer and former Guantanamo detainee Omar Deghayes. Deghayes highlighted the abuse and alienation faced by Libyan dissidents opposing the Gaddafi regime who were "locked up and silenced" by Tony Blair's government as it cut lucrative oil deals with the former tyrant. He also said how "ironic it is that some of those who were put on control orders in the UK are now helping to form the new Libyan government while others held is high security prisons without trial or charge actually provided protection as armed bodyguards for visiting diplomats and politicians including Hillary Clinton and David Cameron during their recent visits." 

The witchunt against Abu Qatada simply reiterates the British Government's relationships with dictatorships - past and present

Four years ago, when Barack Obama was elected, many of us gained a renewed sense of hope.  After all, he promised to protect our civil liberties, close Guantanamo Bay (and end torture), bring renewed transparency to government and approach the Muslim world with compassion and an intimate cultural understanding. Muslims at home and abroad were sure things would get better.

But have they?

On Monday, 29 October, CagePrisoners attended a parliamentary meeting for the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign.  

The United States Supreme Court’s decision on Monday not to hear the final appeal in the case of the Holy Land Foundation, is a wake-up call for everyone concerned with the issue of fair trials in the US for Muslims. The decision has a particular resonance now, in the aftermath of the extradition six weeks ago of five Muslim men from Britain to the US.

To many, Morocco is a destination of choice for holidays: the mysterious oriental charm just next door to Europe. To others, namely religious and political dissidents, it remains a place of brutal and systematic torture and imprisonment covered by the War on Terror.

CagePrisoners continues its reporting from the remaining days of the hearing into the alleged role of GCHQ in the killing of the son of Noor Khan.

Last week, I was lucky enough to be in the audience for a truly remarkable event: a conversation between two men whose lives have been indelibly altered by American’s brutal prison regime, Robert King and Omar Deghayes.   At first glance, it might seem as if these two men have nothing in common.  King grew up in New Orleans in an era of violent racial repression and is a Black Panther to this day; he was convicted by an all-white jury in 1973 for a murder he did not commit, and spent 32 years in Louisiana state prison.  In his earliest childhood, Deghayes lived in Libya, but after his father was murdered by Gaddafi, he and his family fled to the UK.  Deghayes was arrested in Pakistan in 2002, where he had been living with his Afghan wife and child, and spent over six years detained at Guantanamo without charge or trial.

The event videos can be viewed here

The father of Noor Khan, a victim of a US drone strike, argues before the High Court that the alleged role of GCHQ in his son's killing was unlawful. CagePrisoners reports from the first day of the hearing.