England Requests Release of Prisoners From Guantanamo Bay
LONDON _ In a significant policy shift for the British government, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has asked the United States to release five British residents imprisoned at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The request came in a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
According to a statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Tuesday, “The Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary have decided to request the release from Guantanamo Bay and return to the U.K. of the five men who, whilst not (United Kingdom) nationals, were legally resident here prior to their detention.”
The government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair sought and obtained the release of nine British nationals held at Guantanamo, but it said it had no responsibility to intervene on behalf of non-citizens who lived in Britain.
Some analysts here saw Tuesday’s policy shift as an attempt by Brown to pursue a tougher stance toward the U.S. in line with Britain’s long-standing opposition to the Guantanamo camp. But the move is likely to be welcomed by the Bush administration, which is eager to downsize Guantanamo and has been critical of countries, including Britain, that have chastised the U.S. for alleged human rights violations at the facility while refusing to accept the repatriation of Guantanamo prisoners.
“Britain is taking these people off America’s hands. That’s not something America is going to complain about,” said Robin Shepherd, a political analyst with Chatham House, a London think tank.
In Washington, the State Department said the request was being reviewed in line with the Bush administration’s stated desire to reduce the detainee population at Guantanamo.
“Our policy has been for quite some time to work with countries who have an interest in either having their nationals returned or taking responsibility for third-country nationals,” spokesman Sean McCormack said.
But the policy shift does have domestic political significance in Britain. Blair was widely perceived to be too acquiescent to Bush on matters related to Iraq and terrorism, and Brown appears to be looking for ways to differentiate himself from his predecessor without damaging Britain’s special relationship with the U.S.
“Brown’s public relations strategy on this is brilliantly constructed,” Shepherd said. “It’s a low-cost approach in terms of political damage to the relationship with the U.S, but it yields high returns in terms of his image in Britain.”
The new British prime minister met with Bush last week at Camp David in Maryland.
Brown’s hand may have been forced by a decision from Britain’s High Court last month ordering a judicial review of the government’s failure to decide whether one of the five prisoners, Jamil el-Banna, would be allowed to return to London where his wife and five children, all British nationals, live.
The court set a Thursday deadline for the Home Office to make up its mind.
In Tuesday’s statement, the Foreign Office said: “The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary have reviewed the Government’s approach to this group of individuals in light of these ongoing developments, our long-held policy aim of securing the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and the need to maintain national security. They have decided to request the release and return of the five detainees who have links to the U.K. as former residents.”
The four other detainees are Shakar Aamer of Saudi Arabia, Omar Deghayers of Libya, Binyam Mohamed of Ethiopia and Abdennour Sameur of Algeria.
The decision was hailed by human rights activists.
“This change of policy is extremely welcome, especially if it signals a bigger change of approach on both sides of the Atlantic,” James Welch, legal director of the civil rights group Liberty, said in a statement.
In Parliament, Menzies Campbell, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said: “This is a belated recognition of our moral responsibility toward these men. Up to now the government’s attitude has been supine in the face of systematic violation of all known legal principles. It has been left to opposition MPs (members of Parliament) to make the case for their return to the U.K.”
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