Algerians held in UK for years 'choose quick death at home'
FOUR Algerian terror suspects have agreed to be deported to face possible torture rather than endure indefinite detention in Britain, one of their solicitors said yesterday.
Most of the men have spent five years being held in prison in the UK without charge, according to human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce. It is believed that at least one of the men was sent back to Algeria yesterday, although the Home Office refused to comment.
Peirce, whose firm is representing three of the Algerians, condemned the UK’s policy of locking up terror suspects without trial. The men feared detention and torture in their country of birth but had chosen a “quick death there rather than an endless slow death here”, she said.
“For these men there have been no convictions, no proper accusations, no knowledge of what is alleged against them and, astonishingly for most, no questioning by police to discover whether untested secret assumptions might be wrong.”
The Home Office has struggled over what to do with terror suspects.
Ministers were unable to forcibly deport them to countries such as Algeria because human rights laws say they cannot be returned to a country where they may face torture or ill-treatment.
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