British Captives Tell of Guantanamo Torture

The former detainees told the UK’s Guardian newspaper that in addition to having to endure constant beatings, they were insulted and made to pose nude. The "Tipton Three", as they are now known since they settled in Tipton after their release, were captured by US forces in Afghanistan after September 11th and then transferred to Guantanamo.

Gareth Pierce, lawyer for Rhuhel Ahmed, Sefiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal, said that his clients were subjected to systematic torture while they were in Guantanamo. Pierce added that soldiers at Guantanamo engaged in torture methods banned by the international community and various treaties in order to force confessions from captives. Human rights organizations point out that the same methods were applied in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison.

One of the claims against the three Brits was that they were seen together with Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Atta in a videocassette recorded in 2000. However, it was determined that one of the former detainees was working at an elections store in England and the other two were in trouble with the Police during the time period when the video was allegedly shot.

The captives said that despite the fact they could not have possibly been in the video, they accepted the accusations under duress. Ahmed explained that he was pressured to say that he went to Afghanistan for jihad. Iqbal added that the troops mistreated captives as a way of seeking revenge for the September 11th attacks. "A soldier told me, ‘You killed my family at the Twin Towers. Now, it is time for you to pay.’" disclosed Iqbal.

The Tipton Three stressed that even though the British authorities were aware of the tortures, they did nothing to help the captives. On the other hand, the British Defense Ministry announced that the accuracy of the claims would be verified.