UK government raid on lawyer’s office in Guantanamo Bay case ‘deeply troubling’, court hears

The Supreme Court has heard that it was “deeply disturbing” that the UK government raided a lawyer’s office in the case of a Guantanamo Bay suspect who was allegedly tortured by the CIA with the UK’s knowledge.

In January, security officers seized documents from the office of Rachel Toney, a security-cleared lawyer representing the interests of alleged al-Qaeda leader Abu Faraj al-Libi (born al-Uzabi), in secret hearings involving allegations of complicity by the UK intelligence services in his torture.

London’s Royal Court of Justice heard on Wednesday that officers opened her safe deposit boxes, examined her documents and seized them on the instructions of MI6, as well as examining files on her laptop and deleting them twice, despite Ms Toney refusing to let them in.

El Libi lawyer Jesse Nicholls told the court the government had moved to “illegally” seize the material because Ms Toney had “effectively” used the material against them and they were seeking to gain an unfair advantage in the legal case. The documents related to a case Ms. Toney had previously been involved in, involving a Palestinian man named Abu-Zubaydah, who was also tortured by the CIA.

The court heard MI6 and the government’s legal department moved quickly to seize the documents after hearing Ms Toney planned to approach a judge to retain the material and use it in the al-Libi case.

Mr Nicholls said Ms Toney had been “targeted and singled out” for the “illegal” seizure, adding: “The defendant’s behavior was very serious and worrying.”

The treasury lawyer, the government’s top legal official, has already apologized to Ms Toney for the intrusion and acknowledged she could use the material in the Al Libi case. But Mr Nicholls argued that the security services who commissioned the search should instead issue a public apology.

The court heard the seizure raised concerns about the integrity of the system of lawyers under security investigation, known as private lawyers, who represent the interests of individuals in secret trials where national security evidence is disclosed.

Private lawyer Tim Buley KC told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the incidents “potentially have a chilling effect on our willingness to do our job”.

“What is apparent from this situation is that private lawyers who do their job consciously and effectively will face negative consequences,” he said.

Mr Buley said the behavior of MI6 and the government’s legal department was “deeply troubling”. The court also heard that officials in the government’s legal department floated the idea of ​​referring Ms Toney to the review officer and regulator and discussed her possible prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, but these suggestions were never taken up.

Mr Nicholls told the court that a security officer in the State Legal Department claimed to have possession of not only the key documents but all of Ms Toney’s notes on the Abu-Zubaydah material.

Mr Nicholls said if the government took the view that it had the right to seize such documents it would have “very serious consequences” for other cases.

Mr Justice Chamberlain, who presided over the case, said he had to consider “what the government’s attitude to its powers would be if such a situation arose again”.

The government argued that Ms Toney’s possession of the documents posed a national security risk, but Mr Buley told the court this did not justify breaking into the office or seizing the documents.

Government lawyer Rory Phillips KC told the court they were “not suggesting that Ms. Toney acted improperly in any way” by not returning the documents.

In response to the “gaps” exposed by the incident, Mr Phillips said the Government’s Legal Department had set up a “lessons learned group” to identify what went wrong and make sure it didn’t happen again.

Mr Phillips said the government accepted mistakes had been made in the seizure “about the timing, the way it took place and the circumstances of its recovery” and that this should happen “with it”. [Ms Toney] Not in its absence, but in its presence.”

Mr Phillips told the court it was not an illegal seizure of documents but the government would not repeat such a seizure again.

According to a report prepared by the US Senate intelligence committee, Al Libi was Al Qaeda’s chief of operations and was captured in Pakistan in 2005. The report stated that he was tortured in the CIA’s black fields. He has been held at Guantanamo Bay since September 2006.

His Honor Judge Chamberlain reserved the right to rule on the case.