Lord Goldsmith has voiced reservations before about the military tribunals being planned by the US government for at least some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This morning, however, he has issued his clearest statement to date on the matter:
| "We in the UK have been unable to accept that the US military tribunals proposed for those detained at Guantanamo Bay offer sufficient guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with international standards." |
Meanwhile, Downing Street has issued the following statement:
| "The position is that we are continuing to work to resolve the situation with regard to the four remaining British detainees.
"The attorney general's remarks haven't come as any surprise to us because we have always said British detainees should be treated in accordance with international standards, and discussions are continuing." |
And former Labour attorney general Lord Morris said Lord Goldsmith's comments showed how "fed up" he has become with the situation in Guantanamo. Lord Morris is quoted as telling the BBC's Radio4 'Today' programee:
| "In this country we wouldn't put up with it for one minute if there were prisoners in jail for 18 months who had no access to lawyers." |
Quite! It is high time our good friend and ally the United States started behaving again like the enlightened, civilised nation it mostly is.
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