Tipton Three
Encyclopedia
The Tipton Three is the collective name given to three men from Tipton
, England
, who were held in extrajudicial detention
by the United States government for two years in Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
in Cuba
.
Ruhal Ahmed
was born on March 11, 1981;
Asif Iqbal
was born on April 24, 1981;
the United States Department of Defense
estimated that Shafiq Rasul
was born in 1977.
Other reports state he was only a couple of years older than his friends. The three were repatriated to England in March 2004, and released, without charge, the next day. They were later made the subject of "Road to Guantanamo" – a docu-drama about the event.
Shafiq Rasul (one of the three) was responsible for bringing the landmark US Supreme Court case Rasul v. Bush
, where the court held that Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge whether their detention is constitutional in the US courts.
They were represented
in the UK by lawyer
Gareth Peirce
.
. It is alleged that his detainee identification number was 110.
During an interview, on Friday, 23rd, June, 2006, MSNBC
spelled his name as "Ruhel Ahmed".
Ruhal Ahmed has been refused a visa to visit Australia
to promote The Road to Guantanamo. He has taken part in a campaign against torture, organized by Amnesty International
.
, West Midlands
, England
) is best known for being held in extrajudicial detention
by the United States in its Guantanamo Bay detention camps, which treated him as an enemy combatant. His detainee ID number was 86.
His family discovered his detention when the British Foreign Office contacted them on January 21, 2002. He was released in March 2004, shortly after his return to the United Kingdom, more than three months before Rasul v. Bush
was decided.
, United Kingdom.
Iqbal, and four other Britons, were released on March 9, 2004. Iqbal, had travelled with, was captured with, and was released with two friends of his, Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul, from his home town of Tipton, United Kingdom.
Asif married on 2 July 2005.
and humiliation
while in US custody. In it, according to the BBC
, the three describe significant abuse, including:
The appointment of General Geoffrey Miller
coincided with the introduction of new, harsher treatment, including short shackling and the forced shaving-off of beards.
In the report they allege that those who represented themselves as being from MI5, or the British Foreign Office, seemed unconcerned with their welfare.
In the end, the abusive interrogation led the three to falsely confess (under force) to being the three previously-unidentified faces in an alleged video that showed a meeting between Osama bin Laden
and Mohamed Atta
, even though they were in Tipton when the meeting occurred.
The three were among the first released detainees who were able to give an alternative view of conditions within the camp to that offered by United States Department of Defense
spokespersons.
is a docu-drama about the Tipton Three by director Michael Winterbottom
. based on the initial account from the three detainees.
documentary Lie Lab in an attempt to prove their innocence of allegations made by the US Government. The technology used on the show was developed by Professor Sean Spence from the University of Sheffield
. It uses Functional magnetic resonance imaging
to look at the activity in the pre frontal cortex to determine the truthfulness of statements, functional magnetic resonance imaging results can be questioned, however, seeing as the test relies on anxiety level. Having previously claimed that he had entered Afghanistan for the purposes of carrying out charity work, Ruhal Ahmed said on the programme that he had visited an Islamist training camp, where he handled weapons and learned how to use an AK47. Rasul refused to go through with the test.
"Being in Afghanistan, we were at that age where… seeing a gun… you’d never seen a gun in the UK… you want to hold it. You want to see what its like. But we were never there to do any training. That’s what, that’s what, we were just there. We held it to see what it was like. That’s how we’ve explained it. But it has been taken out of context, saying that ‘Oh, these guys from the UK, they were at that age, 9/11 had just happened, and they were there for terrorist training’. But, but – that’s not the case. That’s not what happened"
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who were held in extrajudicial detention
Extrajudicial detention
Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
by the United States government for two years in Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Ruhal Ahmed
Ruhal Ahmed
Ruhal Ahmed is a British citizen. He was detained without trial for over two years by the United States government, first in Afghanistan, and then in Camp Delta, the United States prison for people it describes as suspects in its "War on Terror", at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, Cuba...
was born on March 11, 1981;
Asif Iqbal
Asif Iqbal (Guantanamo detainee 87)
Asif Iqbal in West Bromwich, is a British citizen who was held, in extrajudicial detention, as a terror suspect in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.-Background:...
was born on April 24, 1981;
the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
estimated that Shafiq Rasul
Shafiq Rasul
Shafiq Rasul is best known for being a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay by the United States, which treated him an unlawful combatant. His detainee ID number was 86....
was born in 1977.
Other reports state he was only a couple of years older than his friends. The three were repatriated to England in March 2004, and released, without charge, the next day. They were later made the subject of "Road to Guantanamo" – a docu-drama about the event.
Shafiq Rasul (one of the three) was responsible for bringing the landmark US Supreme Court case Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision establishing that the U.S. court system has the authority to decide whether foreign nationals held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongfully imprisoned...
, where the court held that Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge whether their detention is constitutional in the US courts.
They were represented
Guantanamo Bay attorneys
The Center for Constitutional Rights has coordinated efforts by American lawyers to handle the habeas corpus, and other legal appeals, of several hundred of the Guantanamo detainees....
in the UK by lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Gareth Peirce
Gareth Peirce
Gareth Peirce is an English solicitor, educated at the Cheltenham Ladies' College, the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics. She is known for her work in high profile cases representing people with Irish and Muslim backgrounds accused of terrorism.-Personal life:Born with the...
.
Ruhal Ahmed
Ruhal Ahmed is a British citizen. Having been captured, Ahmed was detained without trial for over two years by the United States, first in Afghanistan, and then in the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, at its naval base in Guantánamo Bay, CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. It is alleged that his detainee identification number was 110.
During an interview, on Friday, 23rd, June, 2006, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
spelled his name as "Ruhel Ahmed".
Ruhal Ahmed has been refused a visa to visit Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to promote The Road to Guantanamo. He has taken part in a campaign against torture, organized by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
.
Shafiq Rasul
Shafiq Rasul (born April 15, 1977 in DudleyDudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is best known for being held in extrajudicial detention
Extrajudicial detention
Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
by the United States in its Guantanamo Bay detention camps, which treated him as an enemy combatant. His detainee ID number was 86.
His family discovered his detention when the British Foreign Office contacted them on January 21, 2002. He was released in March 2004, shortly after his return to the United Kingdom, more than three months before Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush
Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision establishing that the U.S. court system has the authority to decide whether foreign nationals held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongfully imprisoned...
was decided.
Asif Iqbal
Asif Iqbal (born 24 April 1981) is a British citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention as a terror suspect in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detainment camps in Cuba. Iqbal's Guantanamo detainee ID number is 87. The US Department of Defense reports that Iqbal was born on April 24, 1981, in West BromwichWest Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
, United Kingdom.
Iqbal, and four other Britons, were released on March 9, 2004. Iqbal, had travelled with, was captured with, and was released with two friends of his, Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul, from his home town of Tipton, United Kingdom.
Asif married on 2 July 2005.
Abuse claims
On August 4, 2004 Iqbal, Ahmed and Rasul released a report on their abuseAbuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise...
and humiliation
Humiliation
Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have...
while in US custody. In it, according to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, the three describe significant abuse, including:
- They were repeatedly punched, kicked, slapped, forcibly injected with drugs, deprived of sleep, hooded, photographed naked and subjected to body cavity searches and sexual and religious humiliations.
- The American guard told the inmates: "The world does not know you're here. We would kill you and no one would know".
- Mr. Iqbal said when he arrived at Guantanamo, one of the soldiers told him: "You killed my family in the towers and now it's time to get back at you".
- Mr. Rasul said an MI5MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
officer had told him during an interrogation that he would be detained in Guantanamo for life. - The men said they saw the beating of mentally-ill inmates.
- Another man was left brain damaged after a beating by soldiers as punishment for attempting suicide.
- The Britons said an inmate told them he was shown a video of hooded men- apparently inmates- being forced to sodomize one another.
- Guards threw prisoners' Qur'aans into toilets and tried to force them to give up their religion
The appointment of General Geoffrey Miller
Geoffrey Miller (general)
Geoffrey D. Miller is a retired United States Army Major General who commanded the US detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Iraq. Detention facilities in Iraq under his command included Abu Ghraib prison, Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca. He is also famous for training soldiers in "improved...
coincided with the introduction of new, harsher treatment, including short shackling and the forced shaving-off of beards.
In the report they allege that those who represented themselves as being from MI5, or the British Foreign Office, seemed unconcerned with their welfare.
In the end, the abusive interrogation led the three to falsely confess (under force) to being the three previously-unidentified faces in an alleged video that showed a meeting between Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
and Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Atta
Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, even though they were in Tipton when the meeting occurred.
The three were among the first released detainees who were able to give an alternative view of conditions within the camp to that offered by United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
spokespersons.
Film
The Road to GuantanamoThe Road to Guantanamo
The Road to Guantanamo, alternatively The Road to Guantánamo, is a British 2006 docudrama directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross about the incarceration of three British detainees at a detainment camp in Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba...
is a docu-drama about the Tipton Three by director Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
. based on the initial account from the three detainees.
Lie Lab
In 2007 two members of the Tipton Three – Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul – agreed to participate in the Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary Lie Lab in an attempt to prove their innocence of allegations made by the US Government. The technology used on the show was developed by Professor Sean Spence from the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
. It uses Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI is a type of specialized MRI scan used to measure the hemodynamic response related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans or other animals. It is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging...
to look at the activity in the pre frontal cortex to determine the truthfulness of statements, functional magnetic resonance imaging results can be questioned, however, seeing as the test relies on anxiety level. Having previously claimed that he had entered Afghanistan for the purposes of carrying out charity work, Ruhal Ahmed said on the programme that he had visited an Islamist training camp, where he handled weapons and learned how to use an AK47. Rasul refused to go through with the test.
BBC Five Live Interview
In January 2010, both Ruhal Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul confirmed having visited a Taliban training camp, but explained that they were trapped in the province, and had visited only to find out "what was happening". The presenter observed that Ahmed had also admitted to handling AK47 guns. Shafiq Rasul responded"Being in Afghanistan, we were at that age where… seeing a gun… you’d never seen a gun in the UK… you want to hold it. You want to see what its like. But we were never there to do any training. That’s what, that’s what, we were just there. We held it to see what it was like. That’s how we’ve explained it. But it has been taken out of context, saying that ‘Oh, these guys from the UK, they were at that age, 9/11 had just happened, and they were there for terrorist training’. But, but – that’s not the case. That’s not what happened"
External links
- Composite statement: Detention in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal and Rhuhel Ahmed
- Guantanamo Bay guard meets 'Tipton 3' ex-prisoners video from the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, 12 January 2010 - Interview with the Tipton Three in Mongrel Magazine
- The Docu-Drama Documenting the accounts of the Tipton Three can be viewed online at Google Video