The story of Abdelhakim Belhadj continues to take amaze. 2 new twists highlighting U.K./U.S. crimes have occurred this week in one of the most extraordinary cases involving extraordinary rendition. Read a little bit about his case and get the latest news after the break.
The story of Abdelhakim Belhadj continues to take amaze. 2 new twists highlighting U.K. hypocrisy have occurred this week, but first a bit of history.
For those that don't know, or don't remember, Belhadj was born in Libya and first came to prominence as a Mujahid fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan. In the early 90s he returned to Libya and was a leader of the anti-Gaddafi Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). After years of low-level insurgence and multiple, failed assassination attempts, LIFG was crushed by Gaddafi and the members, including Belhaj, fled. As Gaddafi tracked them around the world they kept on the move. In February 2004, Belhadj and his pregnant wife were captured by CIA agents in Malaysia and, in a joint CIA-MI6 operation, sent back to Libya to be tortured for the next 6 years.
His story doesn't end there. He was released in an amnesty program by Gaddafi in 2010, wrote literature promoting a moderate Islamist view, and then joined the U.S.-led rebels. He was there for the fall of Tripoli and became the most powerful military leader in post-Qaddafi Libya when he was elected head of the Tripoli Military Council.
Although the U.K. government denied any involvment in rendition, in a New York Times interview published on September 1st, 2011 Mr. Belhadj said:
If one day there is a legal way, I would like to see my torturers brought to court
He was to get his chance when, just two days later,
researchers from Human Rights Watch discovered documents proving U.S. and U.K. culpability in rendition programs.
From their report:
One of the group’s members was Abdul Hakim Belhaj, now the rebel military commander in Tripoli. The documents, which refer to Belhaj by his pseudonym Abu Abdullah al-Sadiq, detail an offer by the CIA on March 6, 2004, to “rend[er]” Belhaj from Malaysia, where he had been detained, to Libya. In the memo, the CIA asked the Libyan government to ensure that Belhaj would be “treated humanely” and that the CIA would have access to him for questioning once he was in Libyan custody. The CIA transferred Belhaj to Libya around March 9, 2004.
Another document is a letter from a senior MI6 official to Musa Kusa congratulating him on the “safe arrival of Abu ‘Abd Allah Sadiq” and taking credit for Britain’s role in the rendition, which “was the least we could do for you and Libya.”
The CIA always asked that the detainees be "treated humanely" because the U.S. and U.K. are signatories of the "Convention against Torture" which state that no one is to be sent to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that they might be tortured or mistreated. The U.S., of course, was well aware of the torture going on under Gaddafi's rule, as the State Department's own Human Rights Reports stated "Security personnel reportedly routinely tortured prisoners during interrogations or as punishment.".
In 2011 Belhadj filed suit against the U.K. Government, former foreign secretary Jack Straw, and former head of counter-terroism at MI6, Mark Allen, for their complicity in his torture.
Skip ahead to March 2013, when we get a new twist: U.K. MP Ken Clarke tries to steer a bill through parliament that would establish new secret courts to limit payouts because taxpayers' money could be used to fund terrorism. Belhadj responds to those allegations:
I am making an open offer to settle our litigation. My wife and I are willing to end our case against the UK government and Messrs Straw and Allen in exchange for a token compensation of a British pound from each defendant, an apology and an admission of liability for what was done to us....
My wife and I suffered deeply during our kidnap and in Libya, and … continue to suffer. My wife may never be the same again. But we have come to court in Britain because we believe your courts can deliver justice. We are primarily bringing this claim to secure a public judgment, recognising the wrongs we have suffered.
So just to keep the story straight:
1) Belhadj was an anti-Gaddafi fighter
2) He was shipped to Libya to be tortured along with his pregnant wife by the CIA and MI6.
3) MI6 denied involvement.
4) Documents showed that they were definitely involved.
5) Belhadj offers to settle his case for "a British pound from each defendant, an apology and an admission of liability "
Which brings us to this week.
On Thursday, December 19th, new revelations originating from Edward Snowden appeared that showed that the British GCHQ spied on international charities and aid organizations. Lawyers for Belhadj allege that their privileged conversations with Belhadj and his wife were also monitored.
On the same day, the long-awaited Gibson Report was released. The Gibson report is the result of an investigation into the role of the U.K. in extraordinary rendition. In the report, Gibson states that they wished they could have investigated the Belhadj case, but that they discovered that MI6 agents purposedly turned a blind-eye toward Geneva Convention violations. In a clear reference to the CIA, the report found that British officials were reluctant to question torture techniques like waterboarding and sleep deprivation out of "fear of damaging liaison relationships".
On Friday, December 20th a U.K. judge dismissed Belhadj's case on the grounds that the suit could harm U.K. national interests due to the involvement of the CIA. The Judge made sure to say that he thought the government was indeed culpable, but that he felt uncomfortable with the case because he may have had to decide that
the conduct of US officials acting outside the US was unlawful, in circumstances where there are no clear and incontrovertible standards for doing so and where there is incontestable evidence that such an inquiry would be damaging to the national interest
Whatever he may be, and whatever he may represent as an Islamist leader, it should sicken us to see that those responsible for acts of torture continue to escape unpunished. And that even "across the pond" individuals are denied justice out of a fear of damaging relationships with the United States.