Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: detenuti in bare di cemento

Oltre al caso di Guantanamo denunciato da Amnesty c'è altro ancora.
UK terror detentions 'barbaric'
MPs attack 'concrete coffins' in prison
Martin Bright, Jason Burke and Burhan Wazir
Sunday    January   20, 2002 The Observer 
www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,636393,00.html
British terror suspects are being held in conditions condemned as
barbaric by the Home Office's own medical experts and described by
lawyers who have visited them as 'concrete coffins'.
Opposition politicians last night called for an immediate
investigation into conditions in Belmarsh high-security prison in
south-east London, where seven Islamist suspects have been held
without charge since their arrest last month. 
Claims that the detainees - not convicted of any offence - have been
denied access to lawyers and had their basic human rights violated
come as police and MI5 were drawing up plans for fresh arrests. 
The Belmarsh detainees are locked up for 22 hours a day and do not see
daylight. On detention they were given no access to lawyers or to
their families, while being given five days to appeal against their
internment. 
They are unable to speak to their families in Arabic without the
presence of an approved translator who visits once a week. In some
cases, clearance for phone calls to lawyers was approved only last
week. 
Complaints lodged with the Home Secretary have received no response.
These include concerns about men being subjected to body searches by
women prison officers, unacceptable to Muslims. They have also been
denied prayer facilities except for 15 minutes on a Friday without an
imam.
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Norman Baker said: 'These are
very serious allegations that require immediate investigation. If
true, it is shameful that the British Government has allowed these men
to be treated in this way, especially when they have committed no
crime. Both the British and US governments have lost the moral high
ground.' 
In 1996 the Government's former chief medical officer, Sir Donald
Acheson, made a stinging internal report to the Prison Service,
concluding that conditions in special security units such as those at
Belmarsh could contribute to mental illness. Amnesty International
said later that lack of adequate daylight, exercise, medical treatment
and educational facilities led to a swift deterioration of mental and
physical health. 
The claims about Belmarsh will cause serious embarrassment to the
Government, under growing pressure to oppose the American treatment of
Taliban and al- Qaeda prisoners held in Cuba. 
This week Amnesty International will meet lawyers representing men
detained in Britain under the new legisla tion. 'We want to ensure
they are held in humane conditions and that everything is all right,'
a spokesman said. 
Gareth Peirce, who represents several detainees, told The Observer:
'These men have been buried alive in concrete coffins and have been
told the legislation provides for their detention for life without
trial.' 
Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: 'The war on
terrorism was meant to be a war on behalf of civilised values. It is
crucial that the values we hold dear are upheld. Otherwise this
military victory will be undermined by a moral defeat. We are
concerned for the treatment of Muslim prisoners in Belmarsh. Their
dietary and their religious requirements should be respected above
all.' 
Roger Bingham of the civil rights organisation Liberty said: 'These
reports would be cause for concern if someone had been convicted of a
serious crime, but these people haven't even been charged. The whole
policy of internment offends the core principles of British justice.' 
The Home Office said yesterday: 'All detainees enjoy the same rights
as any other category A prisoner. They have the same access to legal
representation, their families and their fellow prisoners.' 
Police investigating Islamic activists in Britain are worried about
alienating the Muslim community in Britain, but believe intelligence
gained from al-Qaeda suspects picked up in Europe, Afghanistan and the
Far East will provide new lines of investigation in Britain. 
One Whitehall source told The Observer: 'If MI5 believes people are a
threat to national security, we will have them arrested. We asked the
Home Secretary for these new anti-terrorist powers. Now we have them,
we are going to use them.' 

Preciso che, come si capisce dall'articolo, i prigionieri non sono
accusati di precisi crimini, ma detenuti in condizioni disumane sulla
base solo di sospetti. Come dichiara Roger Bingham della
organizzazione er i diritti civili Liberty: 
'These reports would be cause for concern if someone had been
convicted of a serious crime, but these people haven't even been
charged. The whole policy of internment offends the core principles of
British justice.' 
Quanto scritto nell'articolo, cioè, sarebbe causa di preoccupazioni
già se qualcuno fosse stato trovato colpevole di un crimine grave, ma
queste persone non sono mai state accusate formalmente. L'intera
politica degli internamenti offende i principî basilari della
giustizia britannica.