Urgent Action: Control Order Detainee on Hunger Strike

[karlos]

http://www.cageprisoners.com

lsestaffagainstwar@yahoogroups.com


In a London hospital Mahmoud Abu Rideh lies in a critical condition from a hunger strike against the Control Order conditions which he has lived under for more than three years. Following an attempt on his life more than a month ago, he has been refusing food, and much of the time even ice cubes or water for 31 days. Wheelchair-bound, he is now coughing and excreting blood. Disillusioned with the injustice he has encountered in Britain , all Mr Abu Rideh requests is allowance to leave the UK and be deported to Syria , or for his Control Order to be lifted.
Background

A veteran of Israeli gaols, Mahmoud Abu Rideh is a stateless Palestinian. He came to the United Kingdom as a refugee from Jordan and was granted indefinite leave to remain in November 1998. His family, including his six children, are British citizens.

The illusory promises of security expected from the self-proclaimed champion of human rights were shattered when police forced their way into Mr Abu Rideh's home in December 2001. Offering nothing but allegations that he was a threat to national security, police immediately transported him to HMP Belmarsh. Due to the impact of his detention on his mental health, he was later transferred to HMP Broadmoor. Mr Abu Rideh was finally released in March 2005, following the House of Lords ruling against his detention, but his return to home was the beginning of a new kind of imprisonment- control orders, under which he was subjected to telephone reporting three times every 24 hours, day and night, daily reporting in person to a police station, electronic tagging [at the outset], a 12-hour daily curfew, meetings outside the house and visits to anyone in the house prohibited except of persons cleared by the Home Office. He has witnessed his children endure the resulting isolation, scrutiny and pressure.

Lord Carlile, the government's Independent Reviewer of anti-terrorist legislation has stated that Control Orders, which are reviewed on an annual basis, should not be used for longer than two years. Despite this, Mr Abu Rideh has been held under a Control Order for three years, and yet before the three years of Control Order existence he had already been interned for 3 and a half years indefinitely without trial. An emergency appeal against the Home Office's recent refusal to modify his conditions was held in the High Court a week ago but the result is still awaited.

Mr Abu Rideh has never been questioned by the authorities, charged with any offence, nor have his solicitors been shown any evidence of why he is considered a security risk.

Psychiatrists' reports over now seven years have shown Mr Abu Rideh to have become deeply paranoid, isolated and depressed. The Control Order regimes have driven several men beyond despair, to choose a return to a country where they are likely to be tortured, or to choose, like Mr Abu Rideh, to die. Appeals from his family, friends, religious authorities can no longer reach him. If his Control Order can be lifted as suddenly, and without explanation, as the one of Detainee 'E' was last week, his life would be saved.

TAKE ACTION FOR MAHMOUD ABU RIDEH NOW!


1. Write to the Home Office.
Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP,
Secretary of State for the Home Office,
3rd. Floor, Peel Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1 4DF

2. Write to Minister of Justice Jack Straw who promised to assist Mr Abu Rideh.
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA


3. Sign Cageprisoners petition for Mr Abu Rideh.
http://www.petition online.com/ aburideh/ petition. html

4. Send a message of support to Mahmoud and his family by emailing contact@cageprisoners.com or writing to:
Cageprisoners, 27 Old Gloucester Street , London , WC1N 3XX

[Mark Gobell]

Statement from Abu Rideh in Broadmoor

Mahmoud Abu Rideh was detained in Britains high-security prisons from December 2001 until March 2005 under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act. He was not been charged with any offence.

According to lawyer, Gareth Peirce, the allegations mounted against Abu Rideh by the Home Office was in part that he was linked to persons who were British nationals who were not detained - in part that he had taken families of persons under immigration detention at the time in Rochester Prison to visit them and as a consequence that demonstrated a link with those individuals although he did not know them before - and in part that his work in relation to charitable projects in Afghanistan for which he raised considerable amounts of money before his arrest, demonstrated a link to international terrorism. When the conditions of his detention in Belmarsh caused a breakdown in his mental health, he was moved to Broadmoor. His continued incarceration led to the worsening of his mental health, which re-activated the trauma of torture he had received previusly in Israeli prisons causing him to suffer flashbacks. The doctors always stated that the conditions in Broadmoor were injurious to his health.

After three years in continued detention Britain's highest court confirmed that the law he was detained under was illegal and breached the European Convention on Human Rights. Earlier this month, prior to the revisions to the Act, he addressed the Mental Health Review Tribunal explaining the plight shared by him and other inmates in similar situations:

STATEMENT BY MAHMOUD ABU-RIDEH
To the Mental Health Review Tribunal

They came in the pre-dawn darkness. They smashed the doorframe and bellowed my name through their megaphones. They shone strong lights in my face. Their dogs were barking; my children, woken from their sleep, cried in terror. They watched their father pushed to the floor and his wrists handcuffed behind his back. My wife was still dressed in her nightclothes, tried to comfort them as I was marched out to the waiting van. Ignorant of the Muslim laws of modesty, the officers made no attempt to avert their gaze.

There were about 100 men in or outside my small Kingston home at 5.30 on the morning of 19 December 2001. Some were from the Home Office, others from MI5, the local police force, Scotland Yard CID, the Security Services, the Immigration Services (who took away my travel documents) and the Anti-terrorist agencies. Many wore protective uniforms and masks and were carrying anti-explosive devices. Did they think they would find a bomb hidden under the baby’s cot mattress?

So, four years after I had been given refugee status in this country as a torture victim, and the day after the United Kingdom derogated from Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the only European country to do so - I was arrested, certified under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime & Security Act 2001 (ATCSA) and transported to Belmarsh Prison in South-East London.

I later found out that one of the police officers told a neighbour that he had found a bomb in my car outside our home. The neighbour went to the local newspaper which then printed a picture of my house with its address. For the next few months, my wife was severely harassed by the local community. Friends became scared of associating with her and stopped visiting. Her life became intolerable and eventually she negotiated a move from the area.

For nearly 2 months after my arrest, I had no contact with my family. My wife has subsequently told me that day after day she telephoned a list of people, frantically trying to find out where I was. Each person gave her a different telephone number to ring, which every time led nowhere.

Life at Belmarsh

At Belmarsh, I was locked up for 23 hours day. I saw no one, not even during my one hour ‘exercise time’: walking up and down in the cage. The cage is closed: I could not see the sky; I could not see the sun. I was not even allowed to communicate with the other men detained under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. We tried to communicate through the heating pipes in our cells, but the guard on duty outside our cells prevented even this desperate attempt to maintain any human contact.

Soon after my arrival, I was given the wrong medication. Instead of being given a pain-killer for my back pain and my anti-depressants, I was given a double dose of painkillers. Angry and frustrated, I threw the tablets on to the floor. Almost instantly, an officer hit me hard in the chest and wrestled me to the ground. Within seconds, I was surrounded by 8 people. I was handcuffed and taken to the segregation unit in the basement. 4 days later, still without a lawyer, I was taken, handcuffed, to the Courtroom in the prison. Through an interpreter, I was charged on 2 counts: contamination of a public space by throwing down my medication, and attacking an officer. When I heard the second charge, I just cried. I asked the Court if my handcuffs could be removed so that I could show them the bruise on my chest. An officer was instructed to lift up my shirt so that the bruise was visible. That evening, I was told that if I agreed to resume eating, I could return to my prison cell. I gave in.

My detention at Belmarsh was characterised by constant abuse, ritual humiliation, derogatory comments about my wife’s clothes and racist taunts. On one occasion, when I went to book a visit, an officer told me to say that Bin-Laden was coming to see me. All the time, I was having constant flash-backs to the torture I had suffered at the hands of the Israeli and Jordanian authorities as a teenager. I became angry, distressed and disorientated. Even though Muslims are forbidden from contemplating suicide, I wanted to end my life. I was regularly self-harming and unable to sleep or concentrate on any activity.

Social visits

Three months after my arrest, the police went to the family home in New Malden to interview my wife, to see if she was a ‘suitable’ person to visit me. They gave her an application form to fill in and send off with her photograph. A few weeks later, she was given clearance. Her visit to Belmarsh was an emotional and pitiful experience. We were separated by a thick pane of reinforced glass. We spoke into a phone receiver. Everything we said was written down by the interpreter, translated into English and then given to the prison authority who doubtless passed it on to the Home Office. Not only could I not touch my wife’s hand, but I could not even see her face clearly as the religious laws prevent her from uncovering her head in the presence of another male.

My wife came to visit me once a week at Belmarsh. Sometimes once every 2 weeks. She could not cope with the clanging of doors, the jangling of keys, the barrage of instructions, the lack of explanations. And most of all, the uniforms.

The visits at Broadmoor have not been any more satisfactory. The first Saturday after I arrived in July 2003, I was permitted a visit from my children. Then I didn’t see them again for 4 or 5 months. Now when they come, they are not allowed to talk to me without an ‘interpreter’ in the room. If it is a male interpreter, my wife cannot remove her hajab. The visits are also filmed by the Hospital. On one particularly frustrating occasion, my 7 year old son devised an ‘escape plan’ for me. Immediately, the interpreter left the room and returned with a Security Office, who interviewed me. My child’s joke became a serious security incident.

My wife lives on Income Support. She has to pay over £100 each time she visits me. She has to make the arrangements with Broadmoor two weeks in advance of her proposed visit. During the children’s school term, it is more difficult for her to visit me regularly. On countless occasions, the visit has been delayed or has not taken place because the Hospital has failed to make the necessary arrangements, despite having given me clear assurances that everything is in order. It is deeply distressing to have a visit cancelled or disrupted and makes me feel desperate. At times, I believe that it is the deliberate intention of the Hospital to upset me.

Last April, I was not told that my family had arrived until they had been at the Hospital for one hour. Then, when I went to meet them, the visit could not proceed because there was no Interpreter available. In the end, my two hour visit lasted for 50 minutes. I decided to take a stand and demand that the lost time be added on. I sat my children on my knee. The staff from the Visitors Centre and Security dragged them off and out of the room. My wife protested. The children were crying. They were told that their father was a very bad person. I was taken from the visit and put in seclusion.

In September, a visit was cancelled after my visitor had arrived because of an administrative ‘mix-up’. I asked for the price of his journey to be reimbursed. I was then told that, under the NHS Complaints Regulations 2004, the Hospital was unable to investigate the complaint once financial compensation had been sought. The money was not the issue, but rather the Hospital’s failure to observe protocol.

Last month, my visit from my wife and mother (who had flown from Gaza Camp in Jordan to see me) was again curtailed. I can give further details if requested.

After nearly three years in Broadmoor, the Hospital has now allowed my wife to bring food in for me. The food is scanned or sniffed by Broadmoor’s dogs. I have to eat it in the Visitors’ Centre: I am not allowed to take any food back on to the Ward with me. What I don’t finish during the visit, my wife takes home with her.

Transfer to Broadmoor

Ever since my arrest, Birnberg Peirce, the solicitors who represent me in matters relating to my detention under ATCSA, have been fighting for me to receive bail. For the second time, on 24 June 2002, whilst still in Belmarsh, I was refused bail, even though the Chairman of the Panel, Mr. Justice Collins said that I should not remain in prison. Two days later, Amnesty International’s representatives visited me and issued a statement condemning the conditions in which I was being held. They stated that I was the victim of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, which was causing a severe deterioration in my mental health. They, supported by a number of psychologists who visited me in jail, called for my release to a low level secure hospital where I could be provided with adequate medical care.

The only response of Belmarsh was to label me a ‘malingerer’ and a ‘bullshitter’. They put me in their ill-named Health-Care Centre. This meant a small filthy room, with a mattress covered with urine stains. No furniture, nothing to look at, no laundry facilities. You could shout for help, but no one came. Once a week, I was permitted a 5 minute shower, and then given half-an-hour to clean my room and my clothes, to phone my lawyer and my wife and to send letters. I was then taken straight back to my room. Sometimes, the guards did not even let me rinse the soap from my hair and body before ordering me back to my room.

I was examined by Dr. Payne from Broadmoor (my present doctor) in April 2002. He visited me again in July and concluded that my best chances of recovery would be to be released on bail to receive psychiatric treatment, either as an outpatient or an inpatient at my local psychiatric hospital as a voluntary patient. He considered that my anger and distress at my situation was unlikely to be alleviated by my transfer to a high security hospital. Even before he had submitted his report, the Home Office had indicated their intention to direct my admission to Broadmoor, whatever the consultant’s opinion. I was transferred to Broadmoor on 24 July 2002 under sections 48/49 of The Mental Health Act 1983. By this time, my weight had dropped from my usual 90 kilograms to 55 kilos. I arrived at Broadmoor in a wheelchair.

One week later, I, together with the other 9 detainees, won an appeal against imprisonment without trial. The Chairman of SIAC (the Special Immigration Appeals Commission), Mr. Justice Collins deemed the Act discriminatory and therefore unlawful. It was also, he said, disproportionate. However, my detention continued.

I have never committed a criminal act, nor had I ever been involved with the police before my arrest. All my adult life has been dedicated to charity work. I have founded schools for boys and girls in Afghanistan, organized the distribution of food and raised money for the building of wells in small communities, which previously had no direct access to clean water. All these activities are well documented and I have an album of photographs available for anyone to see.

Broadmoor was a shock to me. I knew very little about it before I was transferred. I only knew of it as a special hospital for dangerous people and they say that you never get out. When I arrived, I was a Category A prisoner and also considered a risk to national security. I therefore attracted additional security measures: I had two escorts each time I moved from the Ward to the workshops, or to the Patient Shop. Whenever I moved from the Ward, Control was notified. When I went for outside medical appointments, I had four escorts, one of whom was appointed solely to deal with the Press. To this day, my telephone calls are recorded or monitored, my mail is read, and the list of people I am able to contact is subject to vetting procedures.

When I arrived at Broadmoor, I knew that I was unwell and that I needed help. But I knew that I was not dangerous. My consultant did not think that my illness was of a nature or degree which would warrant my detention under the Mental Health Act, and expressed this opinion to the Home Office in a letter written in early November 2002. In February 2003, the Home Office commissioned one of their own doctors to assess me. She concluded that I was detainable and was appropriately placed in a psychiatric hospital where I could be further assessed and treated. Unsurprisingly, the Home Secretary preferred the opinion of the Home Office appointed doctor. The game continued. In June 2003, my Clinical Team requested an independent report; the Home Office countered by seeking a further report. Their own doctor opined that my illness was manageable in conditions of medium security, had there not been major objections from the Home Office.

My consultant wrote back to the Home Office in December stating that the Home Office should direct me to prison as there were no reasons for my continued detention under the Mental Health Act. My Clinical Team believes that the longer I stay in hospital, the more likely I am to become institutionalized. I myself believe that the source of my depression is my sentence of indefinite detention without trial, and my placement in a locked institution. I also live under the threat of being returned to the hell of prison.

The recent report on the impact of indefinite detention on those detained under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime & Security Act 2001 (ATCSA), (compiled by 11 psychiatrists and 1 psychologist) concluded that detention has had a severe adverse impact on the mental health of all the detainees and their spouses. In my case, I know that my wife has suffered badly; so have my children. Before I was detained, I was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder by Professor Ian Robbins, head of the Trauma and Stress Unit at St. George’s Hospital Tooting, London. In the report, he highlighted the deterioration in both my mental and physical health as a result of to my incarceration. Knowing the impact of prison on my health, why has Broadmoor tried so often to return me to Belmarsh?

Room searches

Room and body searches are part of everyday life at Broadmoor. All rooms are searched once a month by the Dedicated Search Teams. You can either choose to be present or not. Three members of staff go through all your possessions, look at your photographs, count your music tapes, read your diary, unmake your bed and scrutinize the only things that bind you to home. On one occasion, a member of staff picked up a pile of papers and started counting them. He told me that I had more than the permitted number of books. I replied that the folded sheet of paper listing the monthly prayer times was not a book. Nor was my Letts diary a book. He persisted. I became upset, I started shouting and then began to self-harm. I was taken off the Ward and put in seclusion. It did not seem like therapy, but rather a punishment for challenging a member of staff. Ward staff subsequently told me that leaflets and diaries do not count as books. The member of staff in question stayed in his post on the Ward.

Discrimination and racism at Broadmoor

I feel that I have been the victim of racist treatment on many occasions. My advocate has written to the Chief Executive on numerous occasions, detailing how - unlike all other patients on my Ward - I have not been allowed to visit patients on other wards. Instead, I have had to visit them in the Visitors’ Centre. This is at some distance from the Wards and access is therefore difficult for patients with physical disabilities. On occasions when I have complained to my Ward Manager, he has encouraged me to make a formal complaint. The response to my many complaints has only ever been a letter expressing regret that I have had cause to be dissatisfied with my treatment and a commitment to investigate my concerns. Not only has no formal investigation ever been carried out, but the refusal of the Service Director to answer letters or make any effort to improve conditions has itself triggered complaints from a large number of patients.

There has been a general consensus amongst patients that certain members of staff consistently act in a way which ranges from disrespectful to discriminatory and racist. I have been called a terrorist by one staff nurse, who has also taunted me on several occasions saying that I was going to be locked up forever and that I should be put in seclusion. He also told me that even if I did complain about him, nothing would ever happen to him. I have frequently gone on hunger strike in order to improve my conditions, but no one really cares.

As recently as January of this year, 12 patients on my Ward signed a joint complaint against two named staff members who have been not only rude and uncaring, but also cruel. One nurse has since left the Ward. No action has been taken against the other by the Trust.

Muslim patients on 2 other wards have made allegations of racism against a woman member of staff. As far as any of us know, she has never been disciplined. There is a culture of racism in Broadmoor and whilst complaints continue to be investigated – or neglected – by internal departments, nothing will ever change. In May 2003, following an assault on me by a member of staff, I was told that the Bracknell police would come to take a statement. They did not. (The police only come when the allegations are made by staff against patients). The member of staff who assaulted me still works at Broadmoor.

A Muslim friend of mine who was on a Ward in the same block as me hanged himself last month. He was desperate and did not receive the help for which he had begged.

More recently, during Sports sessions, I have been forbidden to communicate with 2 friends in Arabic, although this is our mother tongue. I was told that it is Hospital Policy that patients are only allowed to speak English to each other. Even after my consultant told me that this is not the case, the staff have attempted again to forbid me from speaking Arabic with other patients.

There have been numerous occasions when I have put my name on a booking list for an activity in the Central Hall. When Ward staff called for an escort to come and collect me, they were invariably told that no booking had been made. When you are detained at a psychiatric hospital, locked up with ill and violent people, it is not easy to keep a sense of proportion. Once, perhaps twice – maybe even three times if you are feeling very calm – you can believe it’s a mistake. But not five or six…. or a thousand .

In March 2004, I was moved from one Ward to another against my will. 10- 15 nurses were used to restrain me and move me. They swore at me and twisted my arms painfully behind my back. I felt hopeless and victimised. I complained. I was put into seclusion.

My Primary Nurse told me that unless I stopped complaining, he would not try and protect me, but would look away if other patients attacked me.

On 5 May 2004, a patient wrote to The Mental Health Act Commission on my behalf about the ill-treatment I had received at the hands of staff. He copied his letter to Amnesty. At the same time, my Advocate wrote to the Home Secretary outlining the abuse that I had suffered. Neither letter was answered. In fact, none of the letters that I have written or have been written on my behalf by my solicitors, to the Home Secretary, or to my local M.P., Iain Coleman, or to the have ever been acknowledged, let alone answered. You have no voice inside Broadmoor.

Attacks by other patients

On 17 March 2003, I was visited by members of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Degrading Treatment. Whilst they were on the Ward, they witnessed an unsolicited attack on me by another patient. Their report has still not been released by the Government. I have been told that a spokesman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs said that Government is still considering whether or not to publish it.

At the beginning of February of this year, I was attacked by a patient who has a long history of violence. My solicitor wrote to my doctor at the beginning of February stating that I no longer felt safe, and that I had no confidence that certain members of staff would protect me. I can supply further details if requested.

The Press

Some sections of the Press have been supportive of my case. In May 2004, The Guardian published an interview with me. The interview was recorded by two Home Office officials who attended, and was then scrutinised by the Security Services before publication was authorised.

By contrast, the tabloids have ignored the legal and ethical implications of ‘administrative detention’ or detention without trial, preferring instead to lie and distort and do everything possible to prejudice my case and harm my family. On 29 February 2004, both The Sun and The News of the World reported that I had tried ‘to ignite a fireball’ and blow up the Hospital. They also stated that I had held an Occupational Therapist hostage for three hours ‘until negotiators finally swooped and dragged her to safety’. There was no truth in the story, but it made good copy. It is clear that such stories cannot get to a news editor’s desk without the collusion of Hospital staff. Perhaps this will help people understand why I feel that Broadmoor often fails to provide a protective or therapeutic environment. Who can I trust?

On 31 January 2005, I was given bail on principle by SIAC. The following day, throngs of press photographers jostled on the Hospital forecourt, waiting to get a photograph of me to plaster over their front pages.

Conclusion

At my last Mental Health Review Tribunal in January 2004, the Tribunal Panel refused to consider the question of whether I would fare better in the community than in hospital. They said that as there was no prospect of my being given bail, they would only consider whether my illness was of a nature or degree to warrant detention in a psychiatric hospital, or whether I should be returned to prison under section 50 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Scott-Moncrieff, Harbour & Sinclair, the solicitors who act for me in matters concerning my detention under the Act, judicially reviewed the Panel.

I hope that this time, the Panel will act independently of the Home Office and address whether or not I am detainable under the provisions of the Act. It is well-known that my consultant and Clinical Team have never considered that I was detainable or that I am so now.

I would like to make clear that some staff have been sympathetic towards me, and more importantly, have continued to show me basic respect. My doctor, Dr. Andy Payne, has listened to my problems and has sometimes tried to help to find solutions. But this is often impossible in the Broadmoor culture. My doctor has told me many times that he believes my account of events, rather than that of some members of staff.

I feel hopeless about the future. The Government has told me so many times that I am dangerous that I half believe them. I am sure that when people find out that I have been in Broadmoor, they will not employ me, nor admit me to their College courses. I have no prospects beyond the restrictions of the Control Orders. Thank you, great British democracy!

DATE : 1 MARCH 2005

http://www.lutonmuslims.co.uk/letteraburdh.htm

[Mark Gobell]

Amnesty Iternational

Document - United Kingdom: Health concern: Mahmoud Abu Rideh (m)

PUBLIC AI Index: EUR 45/008/2008

19 June 2008

UA 175/08 Health concern

UNITED KINGDOM Mahmoud Abu Rideh (m), aged 37, Palestinian refugee

Palestinian refugee Mahmoud Abu Rideh, who is the subject of a "control order" imposed by the UK government, attempted suicide in May and is now in a critical condition in hospital. He has been refusing food since his suicide attempt, and on occasion has also refused liquids. His lawyers believe there is a real risk that he will attempt suicide again unless the control order is lifted, or at least relaxed.


Mahmoud Abu Rideh, a stateless Palestinian, was recognized as a refugee in the UK in 1997. He suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. His mental and physical health have been severely damaged by years of persecution at the hands of the UK authorities, and he is often unable to move without the use of a wheelchair.


Control orders restrict the liberty, movement and activities of people suspected of some kind of involvement in terrorism. In Mahmoud Abu Rideh’s case, the material on which that suspicion is based has been largely withheld from him and his lawyers. He has been told that he is suspected of various activities, including raising and distributing funds for purposes connected to terrorism. Mahmoud Abu Rideh has not been told the information on which these allegations are based, nor has he been given the chance to clear his name in a criminal trial. He claims that all of the money he raised was for humanitarian purposes, including supporting education projects in Afghanistan.


Mahmoud Abu Rideh was detained without charge between December 2001 and March 2005 under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, on suspicion of being involved in terrorism-related activity. Again, the grounds for that suspicion were kept largely secret from him and from his lawyers. The control order was imposed on him immediately after his "release" in 2005.


The strict obligations imposed by the control order, together with the lasting effects of the time he spent interned in the UK, have had a severe effect on Mahmoud Abu Rideh's physical and mental health. His lawyers say he is "despairing" at the prospect of being subject to a control order indefinitely. Under the terms of his current control order, Mahmoud Abu Rideh is required to stay inside his home for 12 hours a day, and to phone a monitoring company twice a day. He has to report in person to a police station every day. He is not allowed to have any visitors to his home, except those who have been previously approved by the Home Office. He is not allowed to have an internet connection in his home. Any breach of these obligations is considered a criminal offence. These obligations have also had a severe impact on Mahmoud Abu Rideh's family, including his children, who are UK nationals.


A Council of Europe body, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), visited Mahmoud Abu Rideh in Belmarsh high-security prison in 2002, and again in 2004 after he was transferred to Broadmoor Special Hospital, one of three high-security mental hospitals in the UK, after a sudden deterioration in his mental health. In its 2004 report the CPT noted that Mahmoud Abu Rideh suffered from a "most severe post-traumatic stress disorder," and that his mental health had "deteriorated seriously, risking permanent damage."


Mahmoud Abu Rideh has been charged with several alleged breaches of his control order, but with no substantive terrorism-related offences. None of the charges relating to breaches of his control order have yet come to trial. He has not been able to see, or to challenge, much of the material on which the government bases the allegation that he is, or has been, involved in terrorism-related activity.


Mahmoud Abu Rideh was the subject of UA 198/02 (EUR 45/010/2002, 28 June 2002 and follow-ups) and UA 108/05 (EUR 45/012/2005, 4 May 2005, and follow-ups). After UA 108/05 the terms of his control order were temporarily relaxed to allow him to receive appropriate medical care.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The system of control orders was brought into UK law by the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. This allows a government minister to impose severe restrictions on people suspected of involvement in terrorism-related activity, if the government minister thinks this is necessary for the protection of the public. The control order system is grossly unfair: it relies heavily on secret material which is not disclosed to the people affected by the order or their lawyers. This means that people subject to control orders may not know why they are suspected of involvement in terrorism. Although control orders can be challenged in court, the proceedings fall far short of international standards of fairness. People affected by the orders, and their lawyers, can be excluded from large parts of the proceedings where secret material is being considered. Thus they cannot mount an effective challenge to the orders imposed on them.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:

- urging the Home Secretary to lift Mahmoud Abu Rideh’s control order immediately;

- expressing serious concern about Mahmoud Abu Rideh’s health and well-being, particularly as he attempted suicide in May;

- calling on the Home Secretary to ensure that Mahmoud Abu Rideh continues to receive any medical attention he may require.

APPEALS TO:


Home Secretary

The Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP

Secretary of State for the Home Department

Home Office

2 Marsham Street

London SW1P 4DF, UK

Fax: +44 20 7035 4745

Email : public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Salutation: Dear Home Secretary


COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of the United Kingdom accredited to your country.


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 31 July 2008.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR45/008/2008/en/aecf8ec7-3e1 b-11dd-b632-dbf9621ae405/eur450082008eng.html