Guns before battering

The UK Government will intervene in a case brought by a group of British citizens against Saudi Arabian officials who allegedly tortured them. The UK Government via a spokesperson from the UK Department for Constitutional Affairs (Fatty Falconers hang out) said "The UK government condemns torture in all its forms and works to eradicate it wherever it occurs. The intervention in this case is not about criminal responsibility for torture, nor about the UK government's attitude to torture. It concerns jurisdiction, and the way in which civil damages can be sought against a foreign state for acts allegedly committed in its own territory."

A Peter O'Connor from the same department said "You can't come to the United Kingdom and sue a foreign state for actions that occurred in that state."

BBC online have a useful background article and the Guradian reported this week

For a handy and excellent legal discussion, the excellent JURIST - Legal News & Research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (available as daily e-mail digest) provides a useful update on the legal issues involved.

For one of the most sustained, cogently argued, well researched, dissections of the hypocrisy of Government policy, it's arms sales and indifference to tortured UK citizens, go to the excellent Chicken Yoghurt THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT VS MORALITY: WHERE’S THE BEEF? (see pic of author and assistants) Required reading.

POSTSCRIPT

A case arose in the US in 2004 of a US citizen who claimed to have ben tortured whilst in Saudi detention. Wapo had the story then but this very odd (and fascinating "Al Quaeda ") case is another story which you can follow on from here.

Abu Ali's ( a student from Virginia) parents argued in their court petition that their son's detention is an example of "extraordinary rendition," a practice in which U.S. authorities transfer individuals suspected of terrorist connections to foreign intelligence services that use coercive interrogation techniques illegal in this country.

The Justice Department sought to have the family's petition dismissed. It has argued in court papers that under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over a U.S. citizen's detention by foreign powers.