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Europe to rule on whether police can keep DNA of innocent people

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

Police could lose the power to keep DNA samples taken from suspects who have been cleared of any wrongdoing, in a landmark case which is to be decided by the highest court in Europe.

A ruling against the British Government could lead to the destruction of tens of thousands of DNA and fingerprint materials as well as deal a severe blow to any plans to create a universal genetic database.

The challenge at the European Court of Human Rights is being brought by a teenager, known as S, who was arrested and charged with attempted robbery aged 11 in 2001, and Michael Marper, from Sheffield, who was arrested on harassment charges, aged 38, in the same year. Both were cleared and have no criminal records.

But the Court of Appeal ruled in 2002 that they cannot ask for their DNA and fingerprint evidence to be destroyed. One of the judges hearing the appeal was Sir Stephen Sedley, who this week called for a national database to include DNA samples taken from every British citizen and any foreign visitors to this country. His comments provoked outrage from the human rights group Liberty, which called his proposal “chilling”.

European judges in Strasbourg believe the issue is so important that they have decided to fast-track the case to go before the grand chamber, where all the Strasbourg justices will sit to determine the matter.

The decision has been taken because the court decided that the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights or because its resolution might have a result inconsistent with a previous judgment of the court.

In both cases, the clients asked that their fingerprints and DNA samples be destroyed – but the requests were refused by South Yorkshire Police.

Mr Marper and the juvenile argued that keeping fingerprints and especially DNA samples was an unjustified breach of their right to respect for private life protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. They are especially concerned about the future uses to which the DNA samples might be put, and the lack of independent oversight in the national DNA database.

They are represented by Peter Mahy, a civil liberties specialist at Sheffield-based Howells, and one the country’s most respected human rights barristers, Richard Gordon QC. Mr Mahy said:”This decision by the European Court of Human Rights gives us significant hope that these cases will finally result in a massive change in the law – providing protection for those acquitted of crimes against their fingerprints and DNA samples being kept, putting them on a level footing with those not previously accused of any crimes.”

He added: “We think this will be one of the most important human rights challenges the court has grappled with in recent years.”

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BBC cuts bonuses in desperate bid to regain public confidence

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

By Stewart Payne

The BBC has cut the bonuses it pays to staff following the outcry over the £20 million it handed out a year ago.


	BBC Director-General Mark Thompson is under pressure after the recent phone-in scandal

However, figures show that the troubled corporation, struggling to regain the confidence of viewers and listeners in the wake of its phone-in scandal, still made awards totalling almost £12 million this year.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the both the number of bonuses and the size of the amounts is down.

The biggest bonus paid in 2006 was £100, 739. This year the largest award was £30,015. Eleven members of staff received amounts in excess of £20,000 and 2,560 were given payouts of between £1,000 and £10,000.

The average payout was £1,400, down from last year’s £1,800. Although a total of 8,353 staff received bonuses, an increased number of employees had no performance awards at all.

It is believed that many senior staff opted not to take bonuses following a series of scandals involving viewers unwittingly contributing to faked phone-in competitions.

Flagship programmes such as Blue Peter, Comic Relief and Children in Need deceived viewers. In addition the corporation had to apologise to the Queen after a trailer was edited to give the false impression she had stormed out of a photo-shoot.

The BBC is trying to win back confidence in its programme making and insiders believe that it has deliberately cut its bonuses package in order to avoid further controversy.

The BBC declined to reveal which members of staff, below executive board level, were in receipt of bonuses, stating that do so would be in breach of the Data Protection Act.

“Staff do not expect details of their remuneration and bonuses to be disclosed, and to do so would unfair,” a spokesman said. “The BBC operates a salary management policy which is designed to offer a competitive remuneration package and reward people on the basis of their personal performance,” the spokesman added.

“All staff are entitled to be considered for a bonus of up to 10 per cent of their annual salary for outstanding and exceptional performance.”

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Suspected ‘20th hijacker’ claims torture led to confession

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

By BEN FOX

Saudi suspected of being the “20th hijacker” in the Sept. 11 attacks has recanted his confession, saying he made false statements after he was beaten, abused and humiliated at Guantanamo, according to documents obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Mohammed al-Qahtani — who U.S. officials have said previously was subjected to harsh treatment authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld — denied knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks in his first appearance before a military panel at Guantanamo Bay in October.

“I am a businessman, a peaceful man,” al-Qahtani testified under oath, nearly five years after he was taken to the detention center in Cuba. “I have no connection to terrorism, violence or fighters.”

The AP obtained a transcript of the hearing from the government under the Freedom of Information Act. This is the first extensive statement by al-Qahtani ever released.

An unidentified military officer at the hearing said the detainee admitted traveling in 2001 in Afghanistan, where he received terrorist training, met with Osama bin Laden and agreed to participate in a “martyr mission” for al-Qaida.

Al-Qahtani said the statements were not true and he only admitted to them while was being “tortured” at Guantanamo.

The alleged torture, which he details in a separate statement, included being beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female personnel, he said.

“Once this torture stopped, I explained over and over that none of what I said was true,” he told the Administrative Review Board panel, convened to determine whether he could be released.

“I have no intent to kill innocent people or anything like that,” he said.

Al-Qahtani is one of the most notorious prisoners at Guantanamo, where the U.S. now holds about 340 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

The U.S. has alleged that al-Qahtani, who military records show is about 28, barely missed becoming the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001. The Saudi was denied entry into the country by immigration agents at the airport in Orlando, Florida.

At the time, he had more than $2,400 in cash, no return plane ticket and lead hijacker Mohamed Atta was waiting for him, said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.

“We think he is a dangerous terrorist,” he said.

The U.S. treats detainees humanely and denounces the use of torture, Gordon said, but military investigators in 2005 concluded that al-Qahtani had been subjected to harsh treatment approved by Rumsfeld because he would not crack under interrogation.

The investigation led by Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt confirmed, among other things, that al-Qahtani was forced to wear women’s underwear, was threatened with dogs, and kept in solitary confinement for 160 days. At one point, he was interrogated for 18-20 hours per day on 48 of 54 days.

Schmidt concluded, however, that while the treatment was abusive it was within policy and not torture because he was not denied food, water or medical care, and interrogators did not inflict physical pain on him.

Al-Qahtani’s lawyer, Gitanjali Gutierrez of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said the detainee told her in meetings that he planned to recant his confession — but this was his first chance to make any kind of official statement to U.S. authorities.

“It should be disturbing to anyone,” she said.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 3:19 am and is filed under Surveillance, Civil Liberties & Human Rights News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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