What exactly was Binyam doing in Pakistan? Who financed his travel? Who does he know in Pakistan or Afganistan? What exactly were the circumstances of his arrest? What are the suspicions of the Pakistan security services that led them to arrest him? What was the visa contravention? Was it that he was travelling on a false passport?

There are many questions that the British public should be provided answers to so, if you wish to prove yourself as a truly good journalist, rather than someone who appears to be doing nothing other than promoting your agenda [whatever it may be], then please go and investigate what it was that led to his arrest in the first place. That would be a ‘real’ story.

And last of all, let us not forget that he is [apparently] an Ethiopian, and if he is so distressed by his treatment here [in the west] he is always at liberty to return to his native country where I am quite sure he will enjoy a tranquil and prosperous future.

I don’t believe in torture as it happens, but then the definition of torture has been hijacked to the extent whereby denying an individual things, that were only a decade previously considered to be luxuries, is considered by the bleeding heart liberals to be an infringement of human rights and ‘torture’, so please let us try and keep this event within context.

For answering the question about the public opinion, well people don’t know what’s going on and they don’t care to know really because it doesn’t concern them. However, those issues need to be in the public eye, in order for people to have an opinion or even sympathize with someone like Binyam because he wasn’t treated as human.

I would like to know if you can advice me on what to read, where it is explained better on Extraordinary Rendition. And thank you so much for your articles and your information.

Best,

Hugui

Thank you, Elena. That last line is particularly heartening!

Couldn’t agree more about the Senate’s deliberately circumscribed plans to investigate whether torture worked. What depresses me is how unwilling most elected representatives are to hold the executive to account. It’s ironic that Cheney and Addington in particular had such disdain for Congress, when all the evidence shows that, had they been less secretive and less disdainful, the politicians would have approved almost every piece of torture legislation that was pushed their way.

If we are going to see real change, Obama needs to get the politicians working on the side of justice …

Best,
Andy

Hi Andy,

It’s interesting and a little surprising to hear that opinion is so divided. Somehow I always have the impression — maybe it’s a naive hope — that people outside the US are savvier when it comes to seeing through issues like torture and rendition. That people would reject the idea that a boy of 15 should be rehabilitated and that expression of such a view marked a low point on the site is astounding. Sensibility, reason, and morality are indeed in short supply.

I can understand why the Obama administration has taken the position it has. But that position is entirely inconsistent with any promise of change. It’s a veritable slap in the face to all those who know very well that crimes have been committed. Sweeping such crimes under the state secrets rug doesn’t make them any less real.

I hope the demands for investigation and prosecutions continue. Hopefully, these calls will actually lead to some serious accounting of the last eight years. You’ve probably seen that today’s NY Times reported that the Senate Intelligence Committee will continue to investigate the rendition program. But somehow this news isn’t particularly heartening given that among the questions the Committee apparently plans to pursue is “did it work?” That is, does rendition, a web of secret prisons, and torture work?

Putting aside the fact that countless scholars and experts in law enforcement and intelligence have already addressed the question of whether torture ever works (the answer to that question, being no), let’s just imagine for a second that someone argues that it did work. What’s the Committee’s next step? Does it legalize torture? Alan Dershowitz’s dream will have come true. I shudder to think that these are the Senate’s best efforts at seeking accountability.

Keep writing, sensible people will find you.

Elena

Hi Elena,
I think opinion about Binyam is very divided — some people are very supportive, others are incredibly opposed to his return. I’m getting more snide comments on my site than at any other time – except perhaps in connection with Omar Khadr. That was a real low point, when people took exception to me suggesting that someone who was 15 when seized should perhaps have been rehabilitated rather than abused.
The Jeppesen case caused a stir when the Obama administration flatly refused to consider it, but it soon died down. As I wrote at the time, I can understand why the Justice department didn’t want to open up a route that would allow all personnel involved in rendition and torture to criminal liability, which I’m prepared to accept, but only if the administration eventually pursues those responsible for authorizing rendition and torture. I’m not holding my breath, of course, but I really don’t see how they can refuse point-blank, as the only message that sends is that you can do whatever you want, and break whatever laws you want, so long as you get voted out of office at the end of it all.
Best,
Andy

The Jeppesen case was discussed here:
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/02/12/hiding-torture-and-freeing-binyam-mohamed-from-guantanamo/

Hello Andy,

I’m curious to know if you have the sense of the public’s reaction to Binyam’s arrival in the UK? You mentioned in a posting that the media probably won’t provide any sympathetic characterizations of Binyam and that some have questioned why he should be allowed to return. But there is sometimes a great expanse between the views reported in the press and real public sentiment. I know, however, that this is difficult to measure.

Would you know if there is any discussion of the Jeppesen case in the press too?

On a personal note, as someone who has tried to follow Binyam’s story for some time now, I can’t believe he’s home and still can’t believe that it took all these years. I just searched through my emails for when I first learned about his story, way back in Sept of 2006, at a presentation given at NYU. It’s truly incredible to reflect on what the US government has done to human beings…

Best,
Elena

“I spent two hours today walking with Binyam, the first time he has gone more than 5 feet without shackles in 7 years.”

Just so we can all keep some perspective about the Geneva Conventions to which Guantanamo now allegedly conforms …