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GOVERNMENT lawyers desperately argued in the Court of Appeal yesterday against the hearing of a case concerning the 2004 kidnap, torture and “rendition” of a Pakistani man by British and US forces.
Legal charity Reprieve and solicitors Leigh Day have brought the case on behalf of Yunus Rahmatullah, who was captured in Iraq by British forces, tortured and held in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, before being “rendered” to Afghanistan by the US.
Mr Rahmatullah was held for 10 years without charge or trial at the infamous Bagram airbase detention centre, before being released in 2014.
His lawyers are appealing against a previous decision by the High Court which found that the government could rely on the “Crown Act of State” doctrine, which the government argues prevents the court from intervening in executive acts abroad, even if they were unlawful.
Reprieve legal director Kat Craig said: “Instead of accepting responsibility for Yunus’s appalling mistreatment, the government is now seeking to put itself above the law. It has to be hoped that the Court of Appeal rejects this shameful attempt to frustrate justice.”
