Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

two more the following April. Communications contained in the Tripoli Documents, relating
to Belhadj and Saadi, are a key part of a lawsuit against the UK government. 23 They have
also formed the basis of an investigation by the UK police into the government’s role in
their rendition. 24
In addition to these eight, Human Rights Watch interviewed another senior LIFG member,
Muhammed Abu Farsan, who had been with Belhadj and Saadi in Asia before they were
detained. As described above, Abu Farsan sought but failed to obtain asylum in the
Netherlands, which sent him to Sudan. In Sudan he was interviewed by individuals representing
themselves as being from the CIA on three different occasions. Within two weeks,
Sudan returned him to Libya.
Transfer from Guantanamo Bay: We also interviewed Abdusalam Abdulhadi Omar as-Safrani,
who as of this report’s writing was one of two former Guantanamo detainees sent back to
Libya by the US. He said he was not a member of the LIFG. He was detained with Ibn-al-
Sheikh al-Libi (see below) by US and Pakistani forces before being sent to Guantanamo.
Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi (Sheikh al-Libi): Sheikh al-Libi, also reportedly not a member of the
LIFG, was held in US custody for years, allegedly tortured, and then rendered to Libya. We
could not interview him for this report because he died in Libyan custody, allegedly by
suicide. His rendition and torture is of particular importance because it produced intelligence
that the CIA itself has recognized was unreliable but that nevertheless played a
significant role in justifying the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
23 Cobain, “Libyan dissident tortured by Gaddafi to sue Britain over rendition,” The Guardian (“[T]he case currently relies
upon a number of documents that Human Rights Watch, the New York-based NGO, found last month.”); See also “Investigation
into rendition welcomed,” Leigh Day & Co. Solicitors news release, January 12, 2012,
http://www.leighday.co.uk/News/2012/January-2012/Investigation-into-Rendition-Welcomed (accessed August 27, 2012)
(Leigh Day & Co. is the law firm representing both Belhadj and Saadi and their families; the press release states “[a]fter
Gaddaffi was overthrown documents were discovered by Human Rights Watch which allegedly show how British personnel
were instrumental in his detention and rendition.” Claims filed by Leigh Day & Co. rely upon a number of these documents.);
and Richard Norton-Taylor, “Libyan rebel leader sues Britain over rendition ordeal,” The Guardian, December 19, 2012,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/libyan-rebel-abdel-hakim-belhadj?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 (accessed April
22, 2012).
24 “Joint statement by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Metropolitan Police Service,” Crown Prosecution Service
news release, January 1, 2012,
http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_statements/joint_statement_by_the_director_of_public_prosecutions_and_the_metro
politan_police_service/ (accessed April 22, 2012).
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