Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January-June 2007 The UK government had argued that the MoU would be effective in sufficiently mitigating the risk of torture that “DD” and “AS” would otherwise face upon return to Libya. Instead, SIAC concluded that the assurances of humane treatment and of a fair trial upon return which featured in the MoU were unreliable, and that there was a real risk that upon return to Libya “DD” and “AS” would be tried in proceedings that amounted to a “complete” denial of a fair trial, and that they would be sentenced to death. SIAC also concluded that the body jointly charged by the UK and Libya with monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of the MoU, the Qadhafi Development Foundation -- headed by Saif al-Islam, one of Libyan leader Colonel Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi's sons -- lacked the necessary independence from the Libyan authorities, and, therefore, could not fulfil its role effectively. Moloud Sihali In May, Moloud Sihali, an Algerian asylumseeker, won his appeal against deportation on “national security” grounds to Algeria. SIAC ruled that he was not a threat to “national security”. Despite having contested his appeal, the UK government eventually conceded before SIAC that Moloud Sihali was not a threat or even a “fanatic”. His legal representatives pointed out that the false assertions that the UK government had made against him meant that he was now in danger of political persecution in Algeria and asked that he be allowed to stay in the UK as a result. Moloud Sihali was among those, including Mustapha Taleb (see below), who, in 2005, were acquitted of all charges in connection with an alleged conspiracy to produce poisons and/or explosives in the UK. He was re-arrested in August 2005 and held pending deportation to Algeria on “national security” grounds. Amnesty International 133 Algerian test cases in the global fight against torture: update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2007 and EUR 45/001/2007 In June, the Court of Appeal heard the appeals of three Algerians against their deportation to Algeria on “national security” grounds (see AI Index: EUR 45/009/2007). AI considered these to be important test cases in the global fight against torture. All three men were appealing to the Court of Appeal against separate rulings handed down by the SIAC in August 2006 and in May 2007. SIAC had held that each man was a “threat to national security”, and that it was safe and lawful to deport them to Algeria. The three were: Mustapha Taleb, formerly known as “Y” for legal reasons (see AI Index: EUR 01/001/2007 and AI Index: EUR 45/001/2007); a man known only as “U”; and another man known only by his initials, “BB”. By the end of the period under review the judgment of the Court of Appeal in these cases was pending. Renditions (update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2007) In February, and again in June, AI wrote to the UK authorities outlining the organization’s continuing concern about the UK’s involvement in the US-led programme of secret detentions and renditions – that is, the illegal transfer of people between states outside any judicial process – requesting information, and making a number of recommendations. In its February letter, AI requested information about certain flight records for an aircraft, a Gulfstream jet registered N379P, which had been linked to the US-led rendition programme since the earliest reports of the existence of that programme. Flight records show that the plane flew to the UK’s overseas territory of Diego Garcia in September 2002. Shortly afterwards the plane in question travelled to, among other places, Egypt, Morocco, Afghanistan and Jordan, all of which had been destinations AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007