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UK confirms extended detentions of up to 90 Afghans UK confirms extended detentions of up to 90 Afghans
(37 minutes later)
British forces are detaining 80 to 90 Afghan nationals in a holding facility at Camp Bastion, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed.British forces are detaining 80 to 90 Afghan nationals in a holding facility at Camp Bastion, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed.
UK lawyers acting for eight of the men said they had been held for up to 14 months without charge in what could amount to unlawful detention.UK lawyers acting for eight of the men said they had been held for up to 14 months without charge in what could amount to unlawful detention.
They compared it to when the public became aware of Guantanamo Bay and they want the UK High Court to free the men. They compared it to when the public became aware of Guantanamo Bay and want the UK High Court to free the men.
But Mr Hammond said their release would put British troops at risk.But Mr Hammond said their release would put British troops at risk.
British forces in Afghanistan are allowed to detain suspects for 96 hours.British forces in Afghanistan are allowed to detain suspects for 96 hours.
However, in "exceptional circumstances" - to gather critical intelligence, for example - they can hold them for longer.However, in "exceptional circumstances" - to gather critical intelligence, for example - they can hold them for longer.
'Patently absurd'
UK lawyers acting for eight of the men being detained said their clients were arrested by British soldiers in raids in villages in Helmand and Kandahar provinces and have been held for between eight and 14 months without charge.UK lawyers acting for eight of the men being detained said their clients were arrested by British soldiers in raids in villages in Helmand and Kandahar provinces and have been held for between eight and 14 months without charge.
They claimed it amounted to unlawful detention and internment. But the defence secretary dismissed claims that the UK is operating a secret facility in Afghanistan as "patently absurd".
Mr Hammond told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Parliament had been informed by this government and the previous one about the detention of Afghan suspects.
He declined to say how long some had been held and said the precise number of detainees fluctuated.
General Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, said the detentions were illegal and inhumane.
"The prisoners must be handed over to the Afghan authorities," he said. "After their handover to us, they will be dealt with according to our judicial laws, and the agreements reached with the international community."
'Secret facility'
Lawyers for the men, whom the BBC has chosen not to name over fears for their safety, launched habeas corpus applications at the High Court in London on 18 April, with a full hearing due in late July.Lawyers for the men, whom the BBC has chosen not to name over fears for their safety, launched habeas corpus applications at the High Court in London on 18 April, with a full hearing due in late July.
"The UK could have trained the Afghan authorities to detain people lawfully with proper standards and making sure that they are treated humanely," Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, told the BBC.
"They could have then monitored that, including with ad hoc inspections, to make sure that the Afghans were obeying the law. They have chosen not to do so."
He said the UK was acting in an "entirely unconstitutional" way and that "Parliament has not been told that we have this secret facility".
Mr Hammond told Parliament in December that British forces were "holding significant numbers of detainees" who, for legal reasons, could not "be transferred into the Afghan system".
BBC legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman said the detentions pose extremely awkward questions for the government about the lawfulness of a policy of detention that until now seemed to be little known.
In preparatory legal arguments at the High Court on 22 April, Mr Justice Collins told the government that the case raised serious questions about the British army's power to hold suspects in Afghanistan.
He said the UK could not operate a Guantanamo Bay-style prison, referring to the US facility in which suspects are being held indefinitely without trial.
A senior government lawyer, James Eadie QC, described this situation in court as a "perfect legal storm" because the Army suspects all the detainees have links to insurgents.
The families of two of the men who appear to have been held the longest said they were arrested in the spring last year and interrogated in the weeks that followed.
But legal papers state their interrogation ended "many months ago".
Mr Shiner said Mr Hammond had refused to allow the detainees access to legal representation but had now granted lawyers an hour-long telephone call with two of the Afghans on Wednesday.