Tipton Three

The Tipton Three is the collective name given to three men from Tipton, England, United Kingdom, who were held in extrajudicial detention for two years in Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in Cuba. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/02/INGJNJMQF51.DTL All eyes on Guantanamo: Movie, court ruling intensify focus on military prisons] , "San Francisco Chronicle", July 2 2006] Ruhal Ahmed was born on March 11 1981;
Asif Iqbal was born on April 24 1981;the Department of Defense estimated that Shafiq Rasul was born in 1977. [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)] , "US Department of Defense", May 15 2006] Other reports state he was only a couple of years older than his friends. The three were repatriated to the UK in March 2004, and released, without charge, the next day. They were later made the subject of "Road to Guantanamo" - a docu-drama about the event.Shafiq Rasul (one of the three) was responsible for bringing the landmark surpreme court case Rasul v. Bush where the court held that Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge whether their detention is constitutional in the US courts.

They were represented from the U.K. by lawyer Gareth Peirce.cite news
url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/01/1515244
title=British Human Rights Lawyer Gareth Peirce Says Torture 'Is the Recipe for the Destruction' of International Human Rights
author=Amy Goodman
date=February 1 2005
publisher=Democracy Now!
accessdate=2007-06-26]

People

Ruhal Ahmed

Ruhal Ahmed is a British citizen. Having been captured, Ahmed was detained for over two years by the United States, first in Afghanistan, and then in Camp Delta, the American prison for suspects in the War on Terror, at its naval base in Guantanámo Bay, Cuba. It is alleged that his detainee identification number was 110.

During an interview, on Friday, 23rd, June, 2006, MSNBC spelt it as "Ruhel Ahmed".

Ruhal Ahmed has been refused a visa to visit Australia to promote "The Road to Guantanamo". [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/asio-thwarts-film-promotion/2006/10/27/1161749321004.html] Sydney Morning Herald, October 28, 2006 ] He is currently employed as a spokesperson for Amnesty International [ [http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,1103946,00.html] Aftonbladet, June 28, 2007 ] .

Shafiq Rasul

Shafiq Rasul (born April 15, 1977 in Dudley, West Midlands, England) is best known for being held in extrajudicial detention by the United States in its Guantanamo Bay detention camps, which treated him as an enemy combatant. His detainee ID number was 86.

His family discovered his detention when the British Foreign Office contacted them on January 21, 2002. He was released in March 2004, shortly after his return to the United Kingdom, more than three months before Rasul v. Bush was decided.

Asif Iqbal

Asif Iqbal (born April 24, 1981) is a British citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention as a terror suspect in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detainment camps in Cuba. Iqbal's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 87. The US Department of Defense reports that Iqbal was born on April 24, 1981, in West Bromwich, United Kingdom.

Iqbal, and four other Britons, were released on March 9, 2004. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/02/INGJNJMQF51.DTL All eyes on Guantanamo: Movie, court ruling intensify focus on military prisons] , "San Francisco Chronicle", July 2 2006] Iqbal, had travelled with, was captured with, and was released with two friends of his, Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul, from his home town of Tipton, United Kingdom.

Asif married on 2 July 2005.

Abuse claims

On August 4, 2004 Iqbal, Ahmed and Rasul released a report on their abuse and humiliation while in US custody. [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)] , "US Department of Defense", May 15 2006] In it, according to the BBC, the three describe significant abuse, including:

* They were repeatedly punched, kicked, slapped, forcibly injected with drugs, deprived of sleep, hooded, photographed naked and subjected to body cavity searches and sexual and religious humiliations.
* The American guard told the inmates: "The world does not know you're here - we would kill you and no-one would know".
* Mr Iqbal said when he arrived at Guantanamo, one of the soldiers told him: "You killed my family in the towers and now it's time to get back at you".
* Mr Rasul said an MI5 officer had told him during an interrogation that he would be detained in Guantanamo for life.
* The men said they saw the beating of mentally-ill inmates.
* Another man was left brain damaged after a beating by soldiers as punishment for attempting suicide.
* The Britons said an inmate told them he was shown a video of hooded men - apparently inmates - being forced to sodomise one another.
* Guards threw prisoners' Korans into toilets and tried to force them to give up their religion

The appointment of General Geoffrey Miller coincided with the introduction of new, harsher treatment, including short shackling and the forced shaving-off of beards.

In the report they allege that those who represented themselves as being from MI5, or the British Foreign Office, seemed unconcerned with their welfare.

In the end, the abusive interrogation led the three to falsely confess (under force) to being the three previously-unidentified faces in an alleged video that showed a meeting between Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Atta, even though they were in Tipton when the meeting occurred.

The three were among the first released detainees who were able to give an alternative view of conditions within the camp to that offered by United States Department of Defense spokespersons. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1168937,00.html How we survived jail hell] , "The Observer", March 14 2004] [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1717845,00.html Using terror to fight terror] , "The Observer", February 26 2006] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1169147,00.html Revealed: the full story of the Guantanamo Britons] , "The Observer", March 14 2004] [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1217973,00.html US guards 'filmed beatings' at terror camp] , "The Observer", May 16 2004] [http://www.e-ariana.com/ariana/eariana.nsf/allArticles/0CA8C8B37BE286E987256E5F00789CF9?OpenDocument US Afghan allies committed massacre] , "Ariana Afghan TV", March 22 2004] [http://www.asiapacificforum.org/index.php?name=pressrelease_template_tues&press_release_date=2004_03_30 Press Release: Listen live on the web] , "WBAI", March 30 2004]

Film

"The Road to Guantanamo" is a docu-drama about the Tipton Three by director Michael Winterbottom. Clive Stafford Smith [http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1709506,00.html Out of sight: Can a film right the wrongs committed in Guantanamo?] , "The Guardian", February 14 2006] [http://film.guardian.co.uk/festivals/news/0,,1710151,00.html Winterbottom defends film on trio's Guantanamo ordeal] , "The Guardian", February 15 2006] based on the initial account from the three detainees.

Lie Lab

In 2007 two members of the Tipton Three - Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul - agreed to participate in the Channel 4 documentary "Lie Lab" in an attempt to prove their innocence of allegations made by the US Government. The technology used on the show was developed by Professor Sean Spence from the University of Sheffield. It uses Functional magnetic resonance imaging to look at the activity in the pre frontal cortex to determine the truthfulness of statements [ [http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/L/lie_lab/detection_1.html Lie Lab from Channel4.com ] ] . Having previously claimed that he had entered Afghanistan for the purposes of carrying out charity work, Ruhal Ahmed admitted on the programme that he had visited an Islamist training camp, where he handled weapons and learned how to use an AK47. Rasul refused to go through with the test.The Observer: " [http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2094030,00.html] ", June 3rd, 2007]

References

External links

* [http://www.mongrel.ie/issue20/apr06pp42.php Interview with the Tipton Three in Mongrel Magazine]

The Docu-Drama Documenting the accounts of the Tipton Three can be viewed online at [http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-599098805530677622&q=road+to+guantanamo+duration%3Along Google Video]