Regrettable Judgement

A Pakistani man who was handed over to the Americans by our brave boys in the SAS and unlawfully detained at Bagram will, for all the appeal court has to say about it, just have to stay there and rot. The court ordered a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Yunus Rahmatullah in December, but has now ruled that its powers do not extend to the US military authorities in Afghanistan; nor, inconveniently enough, does anyone seem to have any powers to deal with those who originally handed Rahmatullah over to a criminal régime. Britain has agreed "memoranda of understanding" with the US over the treatment of detainees, just as it did with Libya in order to ensure that Tony's chum Colonel Gaddafi would welcome deportees with an appropriate measure of humanitarianism. However, such agreements appear to make about as much difference as the Geneva conventions or the special relationship; particularly as, in Washington's considered opinion, Rahmatullah is "properly detained by the United States consistent with the international law of armed conflict". Well, aren't they all?