Campaign Launched for Former Belmarsh Detainees Facing Deportation

A campaign has been launched by the families of the ten foreign nationals who were former detainees held in Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons for three years. All were detained without charge or trial under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, until this was ruled unlawful by the Law Lords.

The ten men were subsequently placed under controversial 'control orders' until August, when within hours of the government signing a treaty with Jordan, they were redetained with the aim of deporting them as a 'threat to national security'. The government claims that 'memoranda of understanding' with countries like Jordan and Algeria will ensure the men are not tortured or killed, although both countries have appalling human rights records and most independent observers believe these promises are not worth the paper they are printed on.

The men have been deliberately placed at distant locations, beyond the reach of their solicitors and their families. At least five of the men are currently on suicide watch and all have suffered from depression as the result of their detention. Some are single and have no families in the UK, and have receieved less than a handful of visitors or calls in the past 3-4 years that they have been incarcerated.

A website should be up and running soon as www.deporteesfamilycampaign.org.uk

Until then, the Deportees Family Campaign can be contacted at:

PO Box 273, London E7
Telephone 020 8555 8151
E-mail info@deporteesfamilycampaign.org.uk