A British citizen has claimed he was tortured in Somalia and questioned by US intelligence officers, raising concern that controversial practices of the post-9/11 “war on terror” are still being used.
The 45-year-old from London alleges he has endured hooding, sensory deprivation and waterboarding at the hands of the Somali authorities to persuade him, he believes, to cooperate with the CIA. Foreign Office officials are aware of the allegations of torture and US involvement, but their failure to act has raised questions over UK complicity.
David Taylor, whose name has been changed at his family’s request, has been detained without charge in Somalia for two years and fears that unless the UK government intervenes he will face execution in a military court or be rendered to the US. His family, based in London, say they are “heartbroken” over the situation and has accused the Foreign Office of “completely abandoning” him.
Legal documents outlining the case were sent to the Foreign Office last week warning it has until this Wednesday to respond to “ongoing failures” over its approach, or face a judicial reviewin the high court. The nine-page submission also says the alleged US interest in Taylor continues. It claims that on 30 June “two American officials who identified themselves as FBI agents” questioned him in Mogadishu.
The document states: “They asked the claimant whether he wished to live in the US. They also showed him pictures of various individuals asking him whether he knew them.”
One of the images was of Mahdi Hashi, a British-Somali citizen from Camden, north London, who was secretly rendered from Djibouti to the US in 2012 after extensive interrogation by CIA. He was imprisoned for supporting the terrorist group al-Shabaab but released last year. Although no formal reason – or evidence – appears to have been given for his detention, the use of such pictures and apparent CIA involvement suggest that US officials suspect Taylor of links to al-Shabaab.
The 45-year-old from London alleges he has endured hooding, sensory deprivation and waterboarding at the hands of the Somali authorities to persuade him, he believes, to cooperate with the CIA. Foreign Office officials are aware of the allegations of torture and US involvement, but their failure to act has raised questions over UK complicity.
David Taylor, whose name has been changed at his family’s request, has been detained without charge in Somalia for two years and fears that unless the UK government intervenes he will face execution in a military court or be rendered to the US. His family, based in London, say they are “heartbroken” over the situation and has accused the Foreign Office of “completely abandoning” him.
Legal documents outlining the case were sent to the Foreign Office last week warning it has until this Wednesday to respond to “ongoing failures” over its approach, or face a judicial reviewin the high court. The nine-page submission also says the alleged US interest in Taylor continues. It claims that on 30 June “two American officials who identified themselves as FBI agents” questioned him in Mogadishu.
The document states: “They asked the claimant whether he wished to live in the US. They also showed him pictures of various individuals asking him whether he knew them.”
One of the images was of Mahdi Hashi, a British-Somali citizen from Camden, north London, who was secretly rendered from Djibouti to the US in 2012 after extensive interrogation by CIA. He was imprisoned for supporting the terrorist group al-Shabaab but released last year. Although no formal reason – or evidence – appears to have been given for his detention, the use of such pictures and apparent CIA involvement suggest that US officials suspect Taylor of links to al-Shabaab.