Outrage as Obama says torture victims can't sue

The US administration invoked a "state secrets" privilege this week to prevent an attempt by the former Guantanamo detainee to sue the firm that arranged his rendition.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled by a 6-5 majority on Thursday that ex-prisoners cannot sue Jeppesen Dataplan, a Boeing subsidiary that arranged extraordinary rendition flights for the CIA after the intervention.

British national Mr Mohamed, who suffered torture and abuse in Morocco, Afghanistan and Guantanamo, was the leading plaintiff in the case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

ACLU attorney Ben Wizner said: "To date, not a single victim of the Bush administration's torture programme has had his day in court.

"If today's decision is allowed to stand, the United States will have closed its courtroom doors to torture victims while providing complete immunity to their torturers."

Reprieve, which also represented the plaintiffs, argued that state secrets privilege effectively "makes the executive a judge in its own cause," allowing it to label embarrassing information a "state secret" and thus remove it from public scrutiny.

Former British foreign secretary David Miliband used a similar strategy when he attempted to prevent publication of seven paragraphs of a document relating to Mr Mohamed's abuse.

The Court of Appeal rejected his request for blanket public interest immunity. Reprieve argued that by contrast, the "broad-spectrum defence of national security continues to trump justice and transparency in the US."

Reprieve executive director Clare Algar said: "This regrettable decision has derailed another precious chance at a legal reckoning with the excesses of the war on terror.

"Yet again, those responsible for torture and rendition have used 'state secrecy' to avoid facing up to their crimes in court. The need for an independent inquiry into state involvement in torture has never been more urgent and if we are serious about learning from our mistakes the UK must lead the way."

The Star contacted the Foreign Office and Mr Miliband for comment but by time of press there had been no response.