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Detainees: Guantanamo Bay

Volume 485: debated on Monday 15 December 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the US administration on behalf of Mr. Binyam Mohamed in respect of his detention in Guantanamo Bay. (240319)

Following the Government’s request for Mr. Mohamed’s release and return in August 2007 we have actively pursued his case with all levels of the US Government. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has discussed Mr. Mohamed’s case with Secretary of State Rice on a number of occasions and senior officials—including our ambassador in Washington—have had regular discussions with their counterparts in the Departments of State and Defence and the National Security Council to take forward the request for his release and return.

In addition to our ongoing efforts to secure Mr. Mohamed’s release and return from Guantanamo Bay, these engagements have included representations on his welfare, his allegations of mistreatment, and strenuous efforts to ensure that his lawyers were able to access the information they sought via judicial review in the English courts through the US legal system. UK officials also conducted a welfare visit to Mr. Mohamed in Guantanamo Bay in July.