freediver
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Documents show PM knew of Habib torture
http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking-news/documents-show-pm-knew-of-habib-torture/2007/11/30/1196394618347.html
Declassified documents have revealed former prime minister John Howard and other senior politicians knew in 2002 of Mamdouh Habib's claims he was tortured in Egypt.
The former Guantanamo Bay detainee, who was arrested in Pakistan on terrorism suspicions in October 2001, is suing Nationwide News for defamation over an article which implied he made false claims about torture.
A government team visited Guantanamo Bay in May 2002 spent 12 hours with Mr Habib and 15 hours with fellow Australian detainee David Hicks.
Detainees were permitted only one shower a week and two exercise sessions of 15 minutes each, and were only chained to the floor in the interrogation room, the report said.
Their cells were lit 24 hours a day.
The report also details Mr Habib's allegations of torture in Egypt, where he said he was held for six months.
"He said he was tortured, water was dripped on his head and he was administered electric shocks over his body.
"Mr Habib said he was trussed upside down and his body beaten," the report said.
"He said he sustained broken ribs, two broken toes and bleeding from his penis."
"The captors made him listen to noises that resembled ... his wife being raped and his children beaten. He said he was placed neck-high in water for extended periods of time and not allowed to sleep.
"After about six months the torture stopped after a doctor told his captors that he would die."
He alleges he was interviewed by, or in the presence of, Australians under such conditions, a claim that forms the foundation for his compensation case against the government in the Federal Court.
The outcome of the defamation proceedings, and any evidence presented there, is likely to bear significantly on his compensation bid.
Habib also has said he was blindfolded and gagged before being drugged and put on a flight through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Cuba.
The welfare report makes urgent recommendations about public presentation of the team's findings, the first section of which is blacked out.
It also says consideration ought to be given to the "intelligence value" of letters from the detainees to their families.
"We imagine that their families might release the letter to the media," it said.
"You should note that a number of statements made by the detainees in the letters are not consistent with their comments during the interviews and we might need to be prepared to correct them publicly."
In court, two ASIO agents, codenamed Officer 2 and 3, gave evidence via videolink.
The video screens were turned so only the judge and legal counsel could see the officers' faces, and the Australian Government Solicitor was on hand to object to questions on national security grounds.
Officer 2 interviewed Mr Habib at Bankstown Mall as part of a 2000 intelligence brief, said he offered a "rare insight" into a certain mindset.
Wearing a combination of army camouflage gear and black clothing to the meeting, Mr Habib said Osama bin Laden was a "great leader."
"(Mr Habib said bin Laden) was defending the Muslim people from external aggression and he was in the heart of all Muslims," the officer said.
"He expressed views in support of and justifying what we would define as terrorist attacks."
He also assured him that Australia had "nothing to fear" from bin Laden ahead of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
He praised the bombings of US embassies in East Africa, which he described as "justified acts of self-defence", and insisted the 1993 World Trade Centre bombers were innocent.
Officer 3 said Mr Habib admitted knowing convicted World Trade Centre conspirators Ibrahim Elgabrowny and Mahmoud Abouhalima from Egypt, and said they had been framed by the Jews, who hit the centre as an "insurance job".
Under cross-examination by Mr Habib's lawyer Clive Evatt, both ASIO officers agreed they would never interview someone who was under the influence of drugs, or who had their hands shackled to the floor.
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